Mindgames and Shadows
by Akuma Kon
Summary: A twelve year old Naruto returns to Konoha after a six year training trip with Jiraiya. But the person he returns with isn't who he left with. Who is this new stranger, and what are these things that are going on around our blonde hero? Rated M for Safey
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

AN: Another brilliant idea from the mind of yours truly!

Two figures were walking up the dirt road towards the southwestern gate of Konoha. One was a tall man, clothed in black robes and a black cloak. All of his clothes were lined with a metallic purple trim. About his neck hung a simple necklace. It was a round purple orb, probably amethyst, attached to simple black silk cord.

Beside him walked a boy of twelve years. He wore a cloak that stopped just above his knees, a pair of black pants and a similar colored long sleeve shirt. Over his shirt he wore ANBU like armor in black. All of his clothes were trimmed with a metallic cerulean blue. About his neck a rested a similar necklace to the first, only a light blue color. Unlike his companion he wore his cloak with the hood down, exposing his wild blonde hair and face with three whisker marks.

"So, you excited about getting back to Konoha, Naruto?" the tall man asked.

"Hai, shishou," Naruto responded in a voice that clearly said he didn't give a damn.

"Do you think that the old man will be happy to see you?" the tall man continued to ask.

"Hai, shishou," Naruto responded.

"Do you want to go for some sushi when we get in?" the tall man continued.

"No shishou," Naruto answered in a negative.

"So my newest plan for world domination is to release giant snakes onto the cities that don't that agree with my rule, or maybe I should go with dragons! Do you think that would work?"

"No shishou," Naruto responded yet again.

The tall man turned to look at the blonde, who was himself staring forward. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Hai shishou," the blonde answered again.

"Fine, prove it," the tall man said.

"Since we set out from Tanzaku Gai this earlier this morning you have asked about women, your world domination plan involving pickles and sunflower seed cannons, dogs, women, turkeys, lunch, Konoha, whether or not I liked onions over celery, if I was feeling alright, if Konoha had a red light district, if I was doing well on my shinobi skills, if I was doing well on my other skills, if I would like to get a sword, if I was excited about coming to Konoha, your world domination plan involving marrying all the beautiful women in each government, if I was excited to be going back to Konoha, if I suffered any wounds against that bandit group, if I was excited about going back to Konoha, if Oji-san will be happy to see me, if I wanted sushi when we got to Konoha, your world domination plans involving either giant snakes or dragons of which the snakes is actually copy righted by Orochimaru of the Sannin, and finally if I was listening to you at all," the blonde said.

"You said all that in one breath?" The tall man asked.

"Hai shishou," Naruto responded.

The tall man let loose a cry of frustration. "Why can't you be like normal kids your age?"

"Because I like to annoy you shishou," Naruto said in his flat voice.

"You know that you are high enough in rank to not call me shishou anymore, right?" the tall man asked. "I mean, you are only one rank away from being a full master yourself."

"You will always be shishou because you taught me, and you will always have something to teach me," Naruto said.

"Do you even remember my name?" the tall man asked, throwing his arms out in a wide gesture.

"That's another reason I call you shishou," Naruto responded.

"My name is Murasaki Reisu! Remember it Uzumaki Naruto!" Reisu said.

"Hai shishou," Naruto responded.

"You've already forgotten it, haven't you?" Reisu asked.

"Hai shishou," Naruto said with a hidden smirk, causing Reisu to slump over in a temporary bout of depression. Seeing the gate in sight, Naruto pulled his hood up to conceal his face.

XxXxX

Kotetsu and Izumo were guarding the gate again. They would never complain about it. Hell, it was better than going out in the field without the comforts of an actual bed or hot shower. No, they loved gate guard.

"I wish something would happen," Kotetsu said.

"Careful about what you wish for," Izumo said looking over at his partner. "You just might get it."

"Still, it gets boring out here with nothing to do," Kotetsu sighed.

"Hey look, here comes some guys now," Izumo said.

"It's about damn time," Kotetsu said. "Let's mess with them a bit."

Izumo shrugged. "Alright travelers, we need your names, your Hi no Kuni identification number or passport equivalent, your bank number, and five hundred ryo each."

"You can have our names, and that's it," the smaller of the two cloaked figures said.

"You're no fun," Kotetsu said. "Alright, names and reason for entering?"

"Murasaki Reisu, here on political business," the taller man said.

"Okay, you're clear, just don't do anything stupid," Izumo said. "Have a nice day Murasaki-san."

"You too Hagane-san, Kamizuki-san," Reisu said as he vanished into the crowded streets of Konoha.

"How did he-?" Izumo asked wide eyed.

"He read your minds, and most likely your memories too," the boy said, drawing attention to him.

"Oh, right. Name and reason for visit?" Kotetsu asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, returning from six year training trip," Naruto said.

"Naruto?" Izumo asked. "It's good to see you, how have you been?"

"I've been well. I should get after shishou, before his does something stupid." Naruto said. A loud cry rose from the women's bath house. "Too late. Well, I'm off to see Oji-san. You two take care."

"Wait, how did that other guy know who we were? I know you don't know our family names," Izumo said.

"I said it earlier, he read your minds," Naruto said. During this entire altercation, his tone of voice never changed from his 'I-don't-give-a-damn' mode.

XxXxX

"Hokage-sama, there is a Murasaki Reisu and his apprentice here to see you," Hiruzen's secretary said from the other side of the door.

"Send them in," Sarutobi Hiruzen said. Two men in black clothes entered the office. "You wanted to see me Murasaki-san?"

The taller man lowered his hood, revealing striking features and tan skin. His hair was shoulder length brown and he had hazel eyes. "I did."

"For what purpose if I may ask," Hiruzen asked.

"I've come to offer my service to the village," Reisu said. "And my comrade was adamant about seeing you for some reason or another."

"Your apprentice?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'm not his apprentice anymore," the shorter figure said. "I'm an adept and only one test away from full mastery."

"So, if you are not at mastery, then you are an apprentice?" Hiruzen asked.

"No, our order-OOF!" the shorter figure doubled over from where Reisu had hit him in the stomach.

"Sorry, we cannot give out any information on our order at this time," Reisu smiled at Hiruzen's questioning look.

"I see," Hiruzen said. "So what it is it that you wanted to see me so badly for?"

The boy dropped his hood, revealing his blonde hair and facial features. "Uzumaki Naruto, academy student, reporting in Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a bow.

Hiruzen's eyes widened in recognition. He stood up and made his way around the table. "Naruto is it really you?"

"Hai, Oji-san," Naruto said with an actual smile. Without warning, Hiruzen wrapped Naruto up in a tight embrace. "Oji-san, isn't it kind of against protocol for a shinobi to show emotion on duty?"

"Bah, damn the protocol," Hiruzen said, letting go of Naruto. "I'm Hokage, and you're almost like my own grandson. If the elders don't like it, then they can deal with it."

"What of the council?" Naruto asked.

"I took your suggestion the night you left," Hiruzen said. "The only council left is the Clan Council that decides things based on the clans."

"And," Naruto asked.

"They agreed that when you have graduated the academy, you can take your place on the council," Hiruzen said.

"I heard about the Uchiha clan," Reisu said.

"Yes," Hiruzen said. "After I found out about it, I put those who were responsible for it in prison."

"So who is the Uchiha clan head?" Reisu asked.

"Uchiha Itachi," Hiruzen said. "He's been looking after his mother and brother for a while now."

"So I start the academy again when?" Naruto asked.

"On Monday," Hiruzen said. "You've been traveling a great deal recently I imagine, so you can take this week off. By the way, I would have thought that Jiraiya would have come back with you."

"Jiraiya-sensei heard troubling rumors about a new hidden village. It's supposedly run by the traitor Tsunade," Reisu said.

"I see," Hiruzen said. "Any news on Orochimaru?"

"He was sighted drinking away his problems in a bar in Tanzaku Gai," Reisu said.

"He was stumbling down memory lane last we saw him," Naruto said. "When he recognized me, he sobered up real quick."

"Yes, well, your father was a good friend of Orochimaru's," Hiruzen said.

"He asked us to deliver this letter when we arrived here," Reisu said, handing a scroll to Hiruzen.

"I will read this after I finish with this paper work," Hiruzen said.

"It never occurred to you to make an administrative position that deals with doing your paper work for you?" Naruto asked.

"My boy, how would you like a raise when you start doing missions?" Hiruzen asked.

"It would be pointless. I am rather rich after all," Naruto said.

"Of course," Hiruzen frowned. "Is there anything else?"

"Two last things, then I will go to Namikaze compound," Naruto said.

"Alright," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe.

"Senju Hashirama is alive, and he's plotting his revenge against Konoha," Naruto said.

"Nani!" Hiruzen said, coughing up smoke.

"Uchiha Madara has been sighted around as well," Naruto said. "Hashirama has created an organization that plans on collecting the bijuu, while Madara has created one to help protect the jinchuuriki."

"This is troubling news," Hiruzen said.

"Jiraiya's contacts say that Hashirama's group won't move for another five years," Reisu said. "Right now they are taking on missions and building up funds."

"I see. Well if that is all?" Hiruzen asked the boy.

"Last thing, prepare for a prank the size of Konoha," Naruto warned. "And tell Danzo-jiji that I'm back."

"Hold on," Reisu said. "What prank?"

"Seiu," Naruto said simply as he walked out of the door.

Reisu started to chuckle, before it turned into full blown laughter.

"What is Seiu?" Hiruzen asked.

"It is short for Sosa Seiu, or Operation Blue Rain," Reisu said. "You can imagine what it entails."

Hiruzen let out a sigh. "Well, what services was it that you plan to offer?"

At Reisu's evil grin, Hiruzen let out an involuntary shudder.

XxXxX

As Naruto wandered around Konoha, his stomach rumbled. Deciding that it was better if he went to get something to eat before going home, he started looking around. After about ten minutes of searching, he found a decent looking food stand.

"Ichiraku Ramen, huh?" Naruto read aloud. "Worth a shot."

Lifting the flap, Naruto entered the stand. There were two other people, shinobi if he guessed right, seated at the counter. They seemed to be in a conversation.

As Naruto took his seat, unnoticed by everyone in the stand, he listened to the conversation.

"You will never guess what I heard from Izumo at the gate," the one wearing his hitai-ate like a bandana said.

"I give, what did you hear?" said the other one.

"Izumo told me that Uzumaki Naruto is back in the village," the first ninja said.

"That _demon_!" the second shinobi hissed.

"Yeah, the Kyuubi brat's back," the first shinobi said.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the old man that ran the stand said with a fierce glare. "If you can't keep your prejudice about our hero to yourself, you're not welcome here!"

"That's fine," the second shinobi said as the two left the stand. "I wouldn't want to eat somewhere that caters to demon lovers."

"Sorry about that sir," the old man said. "My name's Ichiraku Teuchi. What can I get for you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said as he lowered his hood. "Thanks for standing up for me. I think I would like to try the miso ramen."

Teuchi's eyes widened. "Of course! Anything for the Hero."

"Jiraiya-sensei said something about Kaa-san eating here a lot," Naruto said calmly.

"Yes, she used to drag your father in here all the time," Teuchi said as he put the noodles in the boiler. Realizing what he said, he stiffened.

"Don't worry Ichiraku-san," Naruto said. "I already know all about my parents. Jiraiya-sensei told me about them long ago."

"Oh, okay," Teuchi said, somewhat relieved. "Please, call me Teuchi, or Ossan. Your parents used both of those."

"Ossan it is then," Naruto said.

Teuchi placed a bowl of ramen in front of Naruto. "Eat up."

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said, before breaking apart his chopsticks. He gingerly tasted one of the noodles, before shoveling them into his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, it looks like someone was hungry," Teuchi laughed.

Naruto froze, roughly half of the large bowl already gone. He sat up straight and started eating in a dignified manner. When he was finished he looked up at Teuchi. "Not a word of that to anyone."

"I promise on my samurai honor," Teuchi said, raising his right hand.

"You were a samurai?" Naruto asked.

"I was once," Teuchi said. "Now I spend my time making noodles."

"I was looking for someone to teach me how to use a sword," Naruto said.

"I would be honored," Teuchi said. "The stall is really open during meal times. I'll teach you what I know about handling a sword."

"And in repayment-," Naruto started.

"Oh no, I couldn't accept payment from you," Teuchi said. "But if you promise to come here for dining about three times a week or so, I would gladly teach you for free."

"Sure," Naruto said. "Ossan, can I have another miso ramen?"

"Of course you can kid," Teuchi said.

"Tou-san, I'm back!" a female voice called from behind the stand.

"That's my daughter Ayame," Teuchi said. "She's attending the Ninja Academy. She graduates this year."

"In about five months, right?" Naruto asked.

"That's right," Teuchi said. "How'd you guess?"

"I'm going to be graduating this year, if I can pass the exam," Naruto said.

"Tou-san, are you here?" Ayame called out.

"I'm here," Teuchi yelled over his shoulder. "I was just talking with a customer!"

"Oh, okay!" Ayame called out as she entered the kitchen side of the stall in a white kimono. She stopped when she saw Naruto. "Wow… he's cute."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Prepare for chapter two. If the story seems like it's confusing now, I'm sorry. All will be explained in time. Now, ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 2

It was Naruto's first day at the academy. Of the all of the emotions he thought he should have felt, boredom wasn't one of them. Yet that was what he was feeling right now. To make matters worse, the class hadn't even started. Hell, he was the only person in the classroom at this point in time. All because he showed up early.

The class room was set up with the teacher's desk on the floor at the front of the classroom. To the left, from the student's point of view, was a sliding door. On the right side of the classroom was a set of windows that looked out over a great forest. The student's seats were arranged in rows. Each row was raised higher than the one in front of it, the writing surface extending smoothly to the aisle. There were five rows and three aisles. All of it made of a deep brown hardwood.

Naruto sighed as he stared out of the polished window. So far it seemed today was going to be a very boring day. At least dinner was somewhat interesting.

Flash Back

Naruto and Hiruzen were sitting at the dinner table, just catching up on recent events.

"And then Jiraiya-sensei sneezed, letting all of the girls know someone was watching them. Of course, since there were eight other guys there he released a paralytic agent before he ran. So the girls didn't see him this time, but they did find the unfortunate eight guys that were with him," Naruto said.

Hiruzen couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I could have been there to see the look on his face."

Naruto grinned and pulled out a picture. It showed Jiraiya running for his life while twelve women, obviously kunoichi, were assaulting the other eight men in the back ground. The look on the toad sannin's face was priceless.

"Dinner is served!" Reisu said as he emerged from the kitchen. Around him floated several plates in the air, each one laden with steaming rice, beef, soy sauce, and a healthy set of vegetables.

Hiruzen's eyes widened to the size of the plates that were floating in the air. "H-h-how?"

Reisu looked at Naruto. ~You didn't tell him?~ he asked the blonde.

~No, I wanted him to be surprised,~ Naruto mentally responded.

Both Reisu and Naruto laughed as the plates settled on the table in front of the three men. "This is one of our abilities," Reisu told Hiruzen. "I won't go into detail about how it works, but we do things with our mind that seem impossible."

"Like reading your mind," Naruto said.

"And your memories," Reisu added.

"And moving things with our mind," Naruto said.

"And other things that we're not going to tell you yet," Reisu finished.

"We're not?" Naruto asked, causing Reisu to sweat drop.

"No, we're not," Reisu said.

"Okay," Naruto said. He picked up his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"

End Flash Back

Yeah, last night was fun. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the memory.

"Hey, you're in my seat," a voice said to Naruto from the aisle.

Naruto turned to a see a boy about his age in a blue shirt and white shorts. The boy had spiky black hair with blue highlights and pure black eyes. On each arm he had a set of white arm warmers with blue trim. He had on standard blue shinobi sandals and bandages over his shins.

"And?" Naruto asked.

"I would like it if you would please move," the boy said.

"Since you asked so nicely," Naruto said. He hopped up and moved to the aisle where the boy moved to the seat. He saw a particular fan shaped kamon on the boy's shirt, near the collar. "You're an Uchiha?"

"One of the last three," the boy said as he sat down. "My name is Sasuke."

Naruto moved to sit in the seat next to the boy. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I just returned from a six year training trip."

"That would explain why I hadn't seen you before," Sasuke said. "Who was your sensei?"

"My sensei was Jiraiya of the Sannin," Naruto said.

Sasuke looked at the boy. "That's cool."

"I suppose it is," Naruto said. "I was also taught in other skills by my shishou Murasaki Reisu."

"Never heard of him," Sasuke said.

"I'm not surprised. He only arrived in the elemental nations about six years ago, and he's been keeping a low profile," Naruto responded.

"How would you like to train with me after class?" Sasuke asked.

"I'd love to," Naruto said.

The boys were soon talking about training methods, ignoring the strange looks that everyone gave them as the newcomers entered the classroom. It continued for some time until the teacher walked in.

He wore the standard officer uniform. Long sleeve blue shirt and blue pants. On the each sleeve of the shirt was a red circle with a black line inside, giving it a spiral look. Over the shirt was a green flak vest that was issued to chuunin, though it was also worn by the jounin. The man had tan skin a lighter colored scar across his nose. His medium brown hair was tied into a spiky knot at the back of his head.

"Alright class, settle down," the man said. When no one listened to him, he grew a tick mark on the side of his forehead. "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Everyone immediately settled down. "Alright this is the beginning of our second week here. We have a new student today. Would you please stand up and introduce yourself? Tell us of some of your hobbies and interests."

Naruto stood up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like to train, pull pranks, and annoy Jiraiya-sensei. Can I ask what your name is sensei?"

"Of course," the man said as Naruto sat down. "My name is Umino Iruka. I will be one of your two instructors from now until you graduate. Your other sensei's name is Touji Mizuki."

"Arigato, sensei," Naruto said.

"Now then, history lesson," Iruka said. "Who can name all four of our Hokage, and what they're famous for?" Naruto, a pink haired girl, and Ayame all shot their hands into the air. "Well, Naruto, since you're new, why don't you go."

"The Shodaime Hokage was Uchiha Madara, founder of the Uchiha clan. He was not only the first to obtain the Sharingan, but the Mangekyou Sharingan. However prolonged use of it degraded his eyes. When his brother Uchiha Izuna, who had also obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan, was mortally wounded on the battle field, he gave his eyes to Madara.

"This gave Madara the Fuumetsu Mangekyou Sharingan. This eye gave Madara several abilities, immortality and the ability to control the Bijuu. He was forced to fight Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the End. After the battle, neither body was recovered so it was assumed that they died," Naruto said. "A scroll in the Hokage's office stated that in the event of disappearance, Senju Tobirama was to assume the position of Nidaime Hokage.

"Tobirama was Hashirama's half brother, and wife of Uzumaki Mito. He had what was at the time an ungodly control of water. With his ability he was able to calm any bijuu to the point of domestic docility. With his control over the bijuu, he helped turn Konoha into an actual village rather than an overly large campsite. When the completion of the village was reached, he sealed all of the Bijuu except for the Kyuubi, which was already sealed into Uzumaki Mito, into separate containers and shared them out with other villages to assure their alliance.

"Only, the villages decided to use the bijuu as weapons, starting the Second Great Shinobi War. Eventually there came a lull in the war and the Sandaime Hokage was chosen. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Professor, master of over a thousand jutsu. Shortly after his arrival to leadership, the Third Great Shinobi War broke out. This war quickly escalated to horror beyond the other wars, as it dragged other countries such as Oni no Kuni into the war, unleashing demons and beasts into the fray.

"Near the end of the war, a single Konoha jounin was taking the world by storm. Namikaze Minato, the Kiiroi Senko, using his ingenious mix of seals and kunai, along with a variety of self created jutsu, took to the battle field. Using his Hiraishin seal on his special kunai, Minato was able to almost single handedly defeat the armies of Iwa and Kumo. Suna had already dropped out of the war due to their low numbers and the capture of their elders.

"After the war, the Sandaime Hokage announced that he was stepping down from the Hokage mantle, and the Yondaime Hokage had been chosen. Namikaze Minato was chosen as the Yondaime Hokage. He married Uzumaki Kushina, the next jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. During the next four years, Konoha no Sato flourished under the rein of the Yondaime Hokage. But then, twelve years ago, on the night of October the tenth, Kyuubi was somehow released from its seal.

"Many of the village's shinobi, including the retired Sarutobi Hiruzen, fought valiantly against the beast. However, the bijuu are nothing more than masses of chakra and could not be killed. The Yondaime used a forbidden sealing technique to lock the beast away into his own newborn child. The name of this child is actually a SSS ranked secret of the village and cannot be revealed," Naruto finished. "However, following Minato and Kushina's death, Sarutobi Hiruzen came out of retirement to become Hokage again."

"Wow, that was a bit more detailed than I expected Naruto," Iruka said. "But there are some things that you mentioned that aren't taught in class. How did you know that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Jiraiya-sensei and Sarutobi-ojisan told me."

"Naruto, show respect for the Hokage!" Iruka shouted.

"I only give nicknames to the people I respect, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said. "Would you like to hear the nickname I use for Jiraiya-sensei?"

'_This is not going to end well,' _Iruka thought. "I'm sure you're going to tell us no matter what, so go ahead."

"Jiraiya-sensei is a self proclaimed super pervert, responsible for writing the Icha Icha series," Naruto said, "so I call him Ero-sennin."

The class started laughing. It took Iruka another ten minutes to calm everyone down. "Naruto, I'm going to have to ask you stay after class. Now, since Naruto gave most of our history lesson for the year away, and it is roughly that time, we're going to go and do our physical exercises and taijutsu sparring." The class cheered as they ran out the door. Only Naruto and Sasuke were left inside with Iruka. "I guess this is a good a time as any. Naruto, how do you really know so much about our hidden history? Sasuke, go with the others."

"No, he can stay. He will be clan head soon enough, and he will learn it eventually," Naruto said. He turned to the raven haired boy. "Remember this is a SSS rank secret. Revealing it will lead to your execution by ANBU."

"Then why are you talking about it?" Sasuke asked.

"The Hokage and I are the only one's allowed to talk about due to a law set in place twelve years ago, on the night of my birth. The night of October tenth," Naruto said. "I was the child that the Kyuubi was sealed into."

Sasuke's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Then that means…"

"Yes, I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage," Naruto said. "I actually know one of his seven self invented techniques."

"Does Hokage-sama know that you know?" Iruka asked.

"Yes he does. He was one of the two people to tell me," Naruto said.

"This doesn't change anything," Sasuke said. "I still want to train with you after class."

"Sure thing," Naruto said.

"Okay boys, let's go outside and do some training," Iruka said, pushing the boys out through the door.

XxXxX

Naruto looked around the academy's training field. The field was roughly three miles long and one mile wide. There was an oval shaped quarter-mile track for running in the south-eastern corner, there was a kunai/shuriken range in the northern section, a jutsu range right next to the weapons range, a set of balancing logs in the east, taijutsu punching/kicking logs in the west, several sparring rings in the center, and a rather difficult looking obstacle course around the entire field.

The class had just finished their workout, which Naruto thought was too easy, and were waiting around one of the taijutsu rings while Iruka was busy mixing around names in bowl. The ring itself was pretty simple. A barren circle of dark dirt with a ring of white tape around the outside edge. On the outside of the rings the grass grew abundantly.

"Alright, as I call out your names, I want you to come into the ring. The rules are that you can use any techniques and taijutsu styles you may know. This is only so we can make a class roster, to find out your class rank. Now the first match is Ichiraku Ayame and Akimichi Chouji."

Ayame slipped into a taijutsu style that only Naruto recognized, causing the blond to smirk, while Chouji fell into a variation of the academy style that had been adapted for use for his clan due to their larger girth. Without hesitation, Chouji charged the girl. Ayame waited in the same spot until Chouji was close to her position. She then stepped forward, thrusting both hands forward at the boys gut. He doubled over as Ayame took out a kunai and held it to the boy's throat.

"Good job, Ayame and Chouji," Iruka said. "Ayame what style was that?"

"It's the one my dad taught me," Ayame said. "It's an adaption of the samurai style he used when he was one."

"I see," Iruka said. "Okay, next are Hyuuga Hinata and Ami."

Hinata used her clan's Jyuuken style to easily take out the civilian born academy student. Jyuuken was a style used to attack the chakra points in the body and, if the user was skilled enough, the vital points and organs with the body. She then almost immediately helped the girl with first aid.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru," Iruka called out.

Using only taijutsu, Sasuke easily beat Shikamaru using his clan style, Geigekiken. Geigekiken was only name for it, but translated roughly to the Intercepting fist. It was a style that was intended to block, or intercept, all of an opponent's blows before counter attacking with the user's own. Despite being beaten, Shikamaru was still able to leave the ring without serious injury.

"Haruno Sakura and Aburame Shino," Iruka called out.

Shino used his clan's kikaichu insects and basic academy style to drain Sakura's chakra. The chakra drained from Sakura was split between Shino and the insects, with Shino getting ten percent of all the chakra each bug drained. The Aburame clan had an agreement of sorts with their insects. The insects, which eat chakra, are allowed to keep ninety percent of the chakra they drain, and in return the Aburame clansmen give the bugs a home to rest in.

"Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka called out.

Kiba grinned at the boy. "I don't care who you think you are, you're going down."

"As if someone of your caliber could defeat me," Naruto said in his flat voice.

"And what's up with those clothes?" Kiba continued to taunt. "Those don't look like something a shinobi would wear."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Dark clothes with ANBU like body armor, accompanied with black shinobi shoes weren't shinobi clothes? The dog boy was wearing a blue jacket with fur lining and tan pants, and he dared to call Naruto's clothes un-shinobi like?

"One more word, Inuzuka, and I will turn your day into a waking nightmare," Naruto promised in his usual flat tone.

"What, can't take a little insult? Can't deal with the heat?" Kiba grinned evilly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Naruto said. A second later Kiba was screaming, rolling on the ground.

"Naruto! What did you do to him?" Iruka demanded.

"It's a genjutsu," Naruto half-lied. "It shows the receiver their worst fear over and over."

"I see," Iruka said. "I will take him to the infirmary, the rest of you wait here." Iruka slung Kiba over his shoulder and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

While Iruka was gone, Naruto took to reading his classmates minds.

'_I wonder what Tou-chan is cooking for dinner,' _ Chouji thought.

The Nara heir was going through at least two hundred thoughts at once, each on ending in the word 'troublesome'.

'_I can't wait to train!' _Sasuke thought. _'I wonder if Itachi-nii-san will teach me anything new today.'_

'_I hope Kiba-san will be okay,' _Hinata worried.

'_Sasuke-kun is the best!' _Sakura squealed in her mind.

'_**CHA! We'll have Sasuke-kun in no time!' **_a second voice in Sakura's head thought.

'_Okay,' _ Naruto thought, _'split personality.'_

'_I won't let forehead girl beat me to Sasuke-kun,' _the blonde girl thought. _'But that new guy is kind of cute too. No Ino! Don't lose focus. Sasuke-kun is the goal!_

'_Naruto-kun is very good at genjutsu. I wonder if he'll teach me,' _Ayame wondered.

As soon as he made contact with Shino's mind, something felt different. It was similar to a hive mind, but with Shino himself as the King. ~_Uzumaki-san, is there any reason in particular you are trying to get into my head?~_

_~Not really~_ Naruto mentally spoke back with Shino. ~_I was just looking at everyone's mind so that I could get an idea of their state of mind. I was rather surprised to find out that you can communicate telepathically though.~_

_~I see.~ _Shino stated. ~_that is a good idea. I can see why you would be surprised. However, due to the kikaichu insects in our body, all Aburame have minor telepathic abilities. However we can only usually talk with other family members and our insects. However, my family has acknowledged that my telepathic abilities are of the highest degree they've ever seen.~_

_~Ah, I see.~ _Naruto responded. ~_I think you should meet Reisu-shishou. He taught me everything I know about mind powers. He might even be able to help with yours. By the way, are you able to see my memories?~_

_~Yes, I can see your memories, however your secrets are safe with me.~ _Shino said. ~_I will meet with Murasaki-san after you are finished training with Uchiha-san after class.~_

Iruka interrupted whatever was going to be said as he appeared in a swirl of leaves with a now conscious Kiba. The dog boy looked over at Naruto. "That was evil, how could you do something like that?"

"I've done worse," Naruto responded simply.

"Alright, well for the last match, Yamanaka Ino and Shimura Sai," Iruka announced.

Ino smiled at the boy, who smiled back. "I won't hold back," she promised. She flashed through some hand seals before yelling, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Sai stiffened for a moment before his body dissolved into ink. The real said appeared behind Ino with a kunai to her throat.

"Very good all of you," Iruka said. "It's now lunch time. Be back in the classroom no later than thirteen thirty."

As all of the other students ran off, Shino approached Naruto and Sasuke. The three of them silently made their way into the village, following Naruto.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: This story has officially become my pet project. Let the mind games BEGIN!

Chapter 3

"Okay, let me get this straight," Reisu said. "You want me to take on another apprentice, one that you will mostly see almost every day until graduate, and that has a deep connection to a hive mind that actually lives inside his body?"

"Hai shishou," Naruto said in his flat voice.

"Gah!" Reisu said before an idea formed in his mind, causing him to grin. "I will do it on three conditions."

"What conditions?" Shino asked.

"First, Naruto has to take the final mastery test," Reisu said. "Second, Naruto has to stop calling me shishou, and finally, Naruto must take the non-teaching half of the responsibility for you."

"Very well, master," Naruto said, causing Reisu's eye to twitch. "Come along Shino, we must get you outfitted for your meeting with the grandmasters." Naruto grabbed Shino's wrist and pulled him into another room.

The room that he dragged Shino to was unlike anything the bug user had ever seen. The walls were covered in seven different colored tapestries, each with an unknown symbol. In the center of the room was a deep violet orb. In the back of the room was a large cabinet. Around the edge of the room, centered in front of the tapestries, were orbs of a matching color as the background floating above a pedestal. Each of the surrounding orbs was roughly six inches in diameter.

The center orb itself was roughly three feet in diameter, and was floating above an ornate pedestal. The pedestal itself was made of silver, gold, and platinum. The top of the pedestal was almost like a bowl, dipping into a depression that could easily hold the large orb floating above it. Around the outside of the stand were seven gems, each one sharing a color with one of the tapestries. Each color gem was in perfect alignment with the tapestry that shared its color. Around the pedestal were seven cushions of seven different colors.

Naruto let go of Shino and went to the cabinet at the back of the ornate room. He pulled out a simple set of white robes, a white cloak, and a clear orb. He crossed the room and shove the items into Shino's arms. "Go into the room across from this one and change into these. Make sure that when you enter this room again that you are not wearing you shades, or anything other than the items I gave you. You will have the hood of that cloak up. Reisu will come by to collect you in an hour. Now hurry."

As Shino left the room, Reisu entered. "Ready for the final test of mastery?"

"Yes, I believe I am," Naruto said.

"Take your seat," Reisu said in a commanding tone that he didn't use often anymore. Naruto sat Indian style on the indigo cushion as Reisu assumed the same on the violet cushion next to him. They closed their eyes and focused their minds through the round crystals on their necks onto the large orb in front of them.

When the pair opened their eyes they were in a floating void. The only thing visible was the violet color around them. Without a word the pair moved from a seated position to a kneeling one.

"So you two are both ready to take your tests?" a deep voice asked, filling the pair with warmth.

"Yes, milord," Reisu said.

"Hai Aruji-sama," Naruto said.

"Reisu, please move from young Naruto," a light female voice said, causing both males to shiver. Reisu immediately stood and walked to the away from Naruto, until he had a feeling that told him to stop. "You are taking the test to achieve the position of violet, the rank of the grandmaster?"

"I am," Reisu replied as he once again took a kneeling position.

"There has not been a grandmaster for many millennia," the female voice said.

"Do you believe that you are worthy of this position when so many before you have failed?" the deep male voice said.

"There is no way that I can judge myself without bias," Reisu said seriously. "The only true judge for anyone is the actions he takes."

"Very wise," the deep male voice said.

"However, words are not your test," the female voice said.

"Your test will depend on young Naruto," a third voice said. It was different from the other two in that it evoked no feeling from the man.

"How so?" Reisu asked.

"The violet test is the test of teaching," the cold female voice said.

"How well you have taught the boy will decide your fate," the deep warm male voice said.

"If he fails, so shall you," the neutral third voice said.

"I understand, my lords and lady," Reisu said. _'Come on Naruto, you have to pass this one.'_

XxXxX

"Young Naruto, you test shall begin," the cold female voice said.

"It shall come in three stages," the neutral voice continued.

"The first stage is the test of truth," the female voice said.

"The second stage is the test actions," the neutral voice said.

"And the final stage is the test of self," the deep male voice said.

Naruto felt a sense of Vertigo as he appeared in a dark dungeon like room with a single chair as the only furnishing. Naruto stood and moved to the chair before sitting.

"I shall ask you seven questions," the female voice called out. "You must answer truthfully."

"I understand Josei-sama," Naruto said.

"The first question is the question of anger and hatred," the voice asked. "What makes you angry, what do you hate?"

Naruto took a deep breath before responding. "I anger at those who belittle my accomplishments and myself. I anger at they who would harm those I care for. But despite all this I hold no true hatred."

"You speak truth," she said as a red flame appeared on the wall. "The second question is the question of sincerity. Why did you wish to be a shinobi as well as being in our order?"

"At first I thought it was because it looked cool. But then I noticed the people who ignored me respected the shinobi. After that I decided I wanted to become a shinobi to earn everyone's respect. I had joined the order because I wanted to control the powers that I had shown. It was bad enough when people ignored me, but what was worse was feeling their anger towards my existence. But I actually enjoyed becoming part of this order."

"Again your words ring true," an orange flame appeared above and to the left of the red flame. "The third question is the question of wisdom and clarity. Two groups are fighting over an obscure reason, who is in the wrong?"

Naruto thought about this. "If the reason is obscure, then most of the members of the two groups wouldn't know the reason. They would only join into the fight because of some sort of relation to the leaders. And if only the leaders know the reason, both are in the wrong for not letting their group know why."

"You answers are still truthful," a yellow flame appeared above the orange one, situated halfway between the first two. "The fourth question is the question of envy. What makes you jealous?"

"I am jealous when others don't have to try for what they get when I have to scrape and struggle to get even half of it," Naruto said.

A green flame appeared slightly above the yellow flame and to the right, past the red flame. "The fifth question is the question of loyalty. Your leader tells you kill your best friend, who in turn tells you to kill your leader. What do you do?"

This question was the hardest one yet for Naruto to think of an answer for. It was worse yet because he could see the leader as Hiruzen and his best friend was obviously Jiraiya or Reisu at this point in time. "I would have to walk away from the situation. It might not seem like loyalty, but I show my loyalty to both of them by allowing them to live, even if they won't see it."

"A wise answer for one so young," the female voice said as a blue flame appeared in line with the yellow flame, but on the other side of the green flame. "The sixth question is the question of fear. What frightens you the most?"

"I fear that I won't be strong or fast enough to help anyone," Naruto said. "I fear that I may not be able to save anyone from anything, even the… no, especially from the beast that is locked within me."

"Though you came to the answer quickly, it must have taken real courage to admit your fear," an indigo flame appeared in line with the orange one, slightly past the blue one. "The seventh and final question is the question of balance. In fact that is the question. What is balance?"

"Balance is proper combination of all things. Shadow is the balance of light and dark. Immortality is the balance of life and death," the blonde replied.

"Interesting, but what is the balance between perfection and imperfection?" the voice asked.

"I believe that their balance is each other, rather than a third solution," Naruto said.

"You have passed the first stage," the female voice said as a violet flame appeared in line with the red one, between the blue and indigo ones, forming a heptagon on the wall.

Naruto felt another sense of vertigo as the chair disappeared from underneath him. He stumbled forward so as not to fall when he arrived at his next location. He appeared in a room that had enough light to see well into the corners, but wasn't bright by any means. It was a room with wooden floors and grey stone walls.

"This is the test of actions," the neutral male voice said. "I shall test your performance on all of you skills that have been taught to you by Reisu. Are you ready?"

"Hai, Daihyo-sama," Naruto said with a bow.

"Good. Now, as you know, there are seven psychic skills, each associated with the one of the seven colors of the rainbow," the voice said. "There is a mental push, or mind blast if you have enough will power, for offence. It is associated with the color of red. Please push the target back if you will."

A small target, similar to a bulls eye target, appeared in front of Naruto. Naruto took a breath to focus. He poured forth his attention on the target and willed it to move. The attack moved the target back by six feet.

"Very good," the voice said. "The smallest push for success was an inch, but you have done well. Now, associated with orange is healing." A large gash appeared on Naruto's arm. He noticed instantly that Kyuubi wasn't healing it. If it were, it would have been gone in ten seconds. "Heal your arm using your mind."

Despite how much he loved the color orange, or least he did in the past, healing was always his worst subject. He had to focus his power heavily, causing him a good deal of exhaustion, and twenty minutes to heal his arm.

"It took a bit long, but you managed to do it," the voice said. "Yellow is the color of physical control. I want you raise yourself at least three feet in the air and hold it for at least six seconds."

Naruto smiled. This was one of the easier things for him to do. He willed his energy to lift him off of the ground to five feet and held himself there for ten seconds to be safe. Rather than use his energy to lower him gently, he just dropped to the ground.

"You have a smart idea with conserving energy," the voice complemented. "Next is green. Green is placed with mind control." A rather ordinary looking man appeared in the room next to Naruto. "You know what to do."

Naruto grimaced. While he didn't do well at healing, he was proficient in mind control. But he actually hated performing it. He was one of the very few that could. Not many people obtained this power, but he did.

He used his energy to manipulate the electricity flowing through the man's mind, making him lay down on the hard wood floor. He changed the pulses to alter the man's memories and thought process so that the man was friendlier than before. Not that Naruto knew how friendly the man was in the first place.

"So that's how you do it," the voice said. "Most of the others who managed it wasted more energy to make the man think their thoughts were his. Most impressive. Anyway, next is blue. Blue is the shielding method. Make a shield."

Naruto nodded and focused his energy around him, tightening it into a compact sphere, while setting the composition to allow for oxygen to enter. He held it in place for a while as he felt something probing the outside. He felt a few hits to the top and bottom of the shield, and a couple of heavier ones along the middle.

"At least you make the shield thorough," the voice said as it finally cracked the shield, causing a heavily sweating Naruto to buckle to his knees gasping for breath. "Okay, now it's indigo's turn. Related to indigo is the ability to see into the future, to just know things, and to find things. Because your indigo leans toward finding things, find the one thing wrong with this room."

Naruto's eyes glanced around the room, taking everything in. He smirked at how easy it was. "The ceiling, which is made of stone, has no wooden supports to hold it up."

"And how did you know this when the ceiling is hidden in darkness?" the voice asked.

"I could not feel the wood like I feel the wood floor and the stone walls," Naruto said.

"Very well," the voice cheerfully moved on. "Finally is violet. Violet is the color of projection. I want you to project your mind out of your body."

Naruto sat down and took a deep breath. This was literally the hardest of all the abilities. He had to literally pull his mind from his body, or was it push? It didn't matter, it just had to happen. After ten minutes he managed to feel the disconnection with his body. Almost instantly everything around him blurred, including his body.

When the sight settled, he was surrounded by seven bodies that looked exactly like him. There were minor differences with all but the one in the red position, but for the most part the same. The body in the red position looked demonic and horrifying.

He was floating in a black void, no floor, no walls, no ceiling. There was nothing except for him and the seven bodies.

"This is your final test," the deep warm voice said. "The test of self is to see if you can recognize yourself. You must choose which of these bodies you are. You have one hour."

Naruto looked at each body carefully. He noticed that each body looked different from the way his real body did. However they all felt the same.

'_This is too confusing, they all look similar but different. Hell the only thing completely the same is that they feel the exact same… That's it!' _Naruto thought. "I have an answer."

"Let us hear it," the voice said.

"The answer is both none of these and all of these," Naruto said. "The body does not determine who the person is, but at the same time people perceive the person through the body. These are different perceptions of me that people may see me as."

"You have done well," the voice said.

The world blurred once again, and Naruto found himself in his body, kneeling next to Reisu. The older man offered the boy a smile.

"My Sister and brother, did Young Naruto pass your tests?" the deep voice asked.

"He has honestly answered all of my questions about himself and his life. He has passed the first part of the test," the female voice said.

"He has much willpower a strong conviction. He displayed more than sufficient skill in all his abilities, even those he is weak in and those he detests. He has passed the second part of the test," the neutral male voice stated.

"Naruto is well aware of who he is, and how it is perceived," the deep voice said. "He has passed the third part of the test."

"We find Naruto worthy of the position of indigo," the three voices said in unison. "Due to his skill in teaching, we find Reisu worthy of the position of violet."

A bright flash of light revealed Naruto's orb necklace and trimming on his clothes to be turned to indigo, and Reisu's turned to violet.

"You are finished here, now go," the deep voice said. "Return to yourselves."

Naruto and Reisu faded from existence.

XxXxX

Naruto opened his eyes wearily. He looked over at Reisu, who nodded. The pair stood up and made their way out of room. Naruto stumbled to his room where he de-clothed and fell to his bed, fast asleep.

Reisu opened the door to the room across from the Order Room. He saw Shino sitting in the middle of the empty room with all of his shinobi gear piled neatly on the floor.

"Come," Reisu said simply. Shino stood and followed Reisu across the hall to the Order Room. "You will sit on the red cushion, Indian style. You will focus you mind on through the orb about your neck and onto the large orb in the center. I cannot do this with you, you must do it yourself. Do you understand?"

"I do," Shino said as he proceeded to the red seat. Doing as he was told Shino concentrated. He felt himself being pulled into the orb.

"If he kept those shades off and showed his face more, he would be able to get a lot of girls to fall for him," Reisu said as he closed the door. He went to the kitchen to wait for Shino to finish.

XxXxX

The next day, when Shino and Naruto showed up in class ten minutes late at the same time, everyone was astounded. Even more amazing to them was Shino's new look.

The boy was wearing black pants and shoes. He had on a mid thigh length black jacket that covered the lower half of his face over his clothes, belted with three belts at the waist. He had two belts on each arm, one at the wrist and one just below the elbow. Over all of this he wore a black cloak. He wore his usual pair of shades, but the lenses were red. All of his clothes were trimmed with red and he had a red orb on a black silk cord around his neck, hanging onto his chest.

"Seriously, what the fuck?" Kiba asked, before he had his head slammed into the desk by a very offended Sakura.

"I decided to change my style," the bug user stated. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

No one said anything further about it, but that was probably due to the large swarm of insects that rose out of Shino's clothes.

"Mind telling me why you two are late?" a voice Naruto was unfamiliar with asked.

Naruto looked over at the teacher area to see a silver haired ninja standing beside Iruka. "You must be Mizuki-sensei."

"I am, but you didn't answer my question," Mizuki said.

"We were training last night, and caught a case of minor chakra exhaustion," Naruto lied.

"We only woke up fifteen minutes ago," Shino added.

"Well, if that's all," Mizuki said. "Please take your seats."

As the boys passed the silver haired chuunin, they picked up his thoughts. _'Okay, so I have the demon brat. I can't let him pass… I know! I'll tamper with his tests, and give him poor training equipment!'_

_~What do we do with him Naruto-san?~ _Shino asked.

~_Leave it to me.~ _Naruto said.

He pushed his mind deep into Mizuki's. He was disgusted with what he found, but kept going deeper. Once he reached enough, he unleashed the horror of his teacher's memories a thousand fold upon the chuunin.

Mizuki was writing something on the board when he turned around to say something. That was when it struck. The most horrifying memories and nightmares he had ever experienced returned to him in one moment. Only they were so much worse than before. The fear was so great that he couldn't even bring himself to scream. Within ten seconds wet himself, in fifteen he sank to the ground with tears in his eyes, and by thirty seconds he was unconscious.

"Mizuki!" Iruka yelled, running over to his fellow teacher. He looked up into the students. "I need a volunteer to take Mizuki to the hospital!"

"I'll go," Naruto said, Shino following slightly after. The boys each put one of Mizuki's arms over their shoulder and disappeared.

At the Hospital the receptionist looked shocked to see an unconscious chuunin being carried by two academy students. "What happened to him?" She asked as she paged for a stretcher.

"He passed out as he was teaching," Shino said.

"His eyes widened in what looked like fear before he passed out," Naruto said. "I think we may need a Yamanaka to look at him."

"Of course, we'll get right on it," the receptionist jotted down on a clip board as a couple of nurses arrived to take Mizuki to a room. "Thank you for bringing him here boys."

"It was nothing really," Naruto said. "We were just doing our job."

"Still, it was a good thing. Now you two need to get back to class," the nurse said.

"Hai, oku-san!" the boys said as they retreated to the doors.

When they were outside, Naruto turned to Shino. "Want to help me with a project instead of going to class?"

"Lead the way Naruto," Shino said.

Naruto led Shino to an empty training field. He pulled out a scroll and rolled it open on the ground. He quickly unsealed many objects, mostly cans of blue paint.

"Sosa Seiu!" Naruto proudly proclaimed, laying the blue prints on the ground. Shino looked on amazed at such an ingenious plan.

"What's the catch?" Shino asked.

"You don't know how to 'suggest' yet," Naruto said. "It's the only form of mind control I don't mind using, so I'll have to cover both of us. It'll take more energy so you'll have to do a fair share of the work."

Two hours later.

Naruto and Shino were sitting on the top of the hokage monument. The blonde turned to the bug user. "You do the honors."

Shino nodded and formed the ram sign, starting the plan into motion. All over Konoha blue fountains erupted from partially buried seal tags. Blue paint ran down the faces of the Hokage monument from the eyes as more of the substance rocketed out from the noses, coating the Hokage tower and the vegetation around it.

To top it off, somehow all of the Inuzuka kennels were simultaneously opened, released the dogs to track down the strange scent of meat that seemed to be coating a lot of anti-demonists.

Naruto turned to Shino. "There's only one thing missing."

"What would that be Naruto-san?" Shino asked.

Naruto produced a two pairs of earplugs and two bags of popcorn. Shino followed Naruto's lead and popped the earplugs in. Naruto formed a rat sign, and a very loud screeching sound that was vaguely reminiscent to someone singing was heard throughout Konoha. Shino gave Naruto a questioning look.

~_That my friend, is the sound of Haruno Sekkai singing in the shower.~ _Naruto thought with a smile.

~_Ah.~_ Shino responded as he popped a mouth full of popcorn. ~_I thought it reminded me of nails on a chalkboard. I can see where Sakura-san gets it from.~_

The boys looked at each and laughed, though the sound was overshadowed by horrifying screeching song of Haruno 'Yurei o Nageki' Sekkai and the blue rain.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: I don't have to have one of these every chapter do I? Oh, and please review.

Chapter 4

Naruto and Shino were sitting underneath a tree in front of the academy. It was lunch time and the boys each had a steaming carry out bowl of Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto went with a miso ramen while Shino chose chicken.

"Tomorrow Teuchi-ossan is going to start training me to use a sword," Naruto said.

"I see," Shino said. "And that will take time away from tutoring session."

As Reisu had obtained the violet position, he could literally order Naruto and Shino around. He didn't do it very often, but he did force Naruto to become Shino's mentor. After Reisu showed Shino how to do a skill, Naruto would help Shino master it. The only problem so far is that Shino was having problems with the first skill.

"A little bit, but not much," Naruto said. "You could join us if you like. That way you have something else to fall back on."

"Perhaps that would be wise," Shino said.

"Oi! Naruto!" a familiar male voice called from across the grounds. Naruto looked up to see Sasuke walking over to him. "Okay, spill it."

"Spill what?" Naruto asked.

"What is going on here?" Sasuke asked. "You show up in Konoha with a strangely dressed man, and you are dressed only slightly better. Then, the day after you show up at the academy you have Shino following you around just about everywhere, dressed similar to you and that other guy. I want to know what's going on!"

"I thought you said he didn't talk that much," Naruto said to Shino.

"It appears that you were the catalyst to his social patterns evolution," Shino said. "Before you showed up, his entire vocabulary consisted of the word 'hn'."

"I'm right here," Sasuke said. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. "If you really want to know, show up at my place tonight at seven."

"Fine," Sasuke said. He made as if to move off, but turned around to look at Naruto again. "Where do you live again?"

"Meet me at the Ichiraku Ramen stall at seven," Naruto said, "I'll lead you there."

"Got it," Sasuke said as he walked off.

"Do you think he'll pass the entrance test?" Shino asked.

"No idea," Naruto said. He lifted his bowl to his mouth and drained the broth. "I'm not certain, but I could have sworn that I saw two of our class mates using a shield during Sosa Seiu yesterday."

"I believe I saw that too. Ichiraku-san and Yamanaka-san," Shino said.

"Ayame and Ino, huh?" Naruto asked to himself. "I'll extend the invitation to them as well."

"Trying to create an entire branch of the Order out here in Konoha are you?" asked a familiar voice walking up.

"You could say that," Naruto said to Reisu.

"Well, you are going to need to invite more members than just a few kids," the man said as he sat down between the boys, pulling out a bento box.

"I was thinking of bringing over some of the more attuned members of my clan," Shino said.

Naruto nodded. "And if we can get some of the Yamanaka clan as well, we'll be set."

"That's all well and good," Reisu said between bites of his beef and rice, "but you'll have to take at least one apprentice yourself."

"If I take on an apprentice, you'll have to take care of all of Shino's training," Naruto warned. On the inside he was smirking.

"You're an evil kid, you know that?" Reisu said.

"So everyone tells me," Naruto said in an amused tone. "But I think Shino has us both beat in that department."

"How so?" Reisu asked.

"During yesterday's events, I gave Shino control of the speaker seals so that he could stop them when he wanted to," Naruto said.

"But he didn't stop them until after midnight!" Reisu yelled.

"I know," Shino said ominously.

"Okay then, I will leave my little evil apprentices alone now," Reisu said as stood with his bento. "Good bye."

As Reisu ran off, Shino looked at Naruto who had, unusually, a wide smile on his face. Naruto's hands formed the ram seal. From just outside the gate there was a loud pop, and a cry of frustration.

"I set a minor explosion seal on the bottom of his bento when he wasn't looking," Naruto explained.

"Ah," Shino said simply as he finished the last of his ramen.

As the boys threw their paper bowls away the tardy bell for the class rang. Shino looked at Naruto in confusion. "Well, my friend," Naruto said. "It looks like you get to see a practical application of 'suggestionism'."

"Naruto-san, that's not even a word," Shino said.

"It is now, because I said so," Naruto said as they started towards the class room.

"I see," Shino said, entirely unconvinced.

"Just watch and learn," Naruto said, sliding the classroom door open.

"Naruto, Shino! You two are late!" Iruka said sternly.

"No we're not," Naruto said.

"Yes you are," Iruka said.

Naruto looked Iruka firmly in the eyes. "No we're not," he said, his voice laced with power that was only detectable to three people in the room.

"No you're not," Iruka said sternly," but if you don't sit down in the next ten seconds you will be."

Almost instantly, Naruto was sitting next to Sasuke with Shino on the other side. Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion. For where Naruto was currently sitting had previously been occupied a loud fan girl with pink hair.

"How did you do that?" Sasuke asked.

"Which part?" Naruto asked.

"All of it," Sasuke said. "That strange thing with your voice and eyes, and appearing here when Sakura was here. Speaking of Sakura, where is she?"

On the floor where Naruto was standing was a simple roll of toilet paper. "I think she went to explore the men's restroom," Shino said as he looked at the toilet paper.

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"A double kawarimi," Naruto explained. "You use it to switch places with one thing, while causing that thing to switch places with a third at the same time.

"It sounds difficult," Sasuke said.

"You have no idea," Shino shuddered.

Naruto spun around in his seat to look at Ino and Ayame. "Hey, we're having a little get together at my house later today. You two want to come?"

"I'll have to ask Tou-san," Ayame smiled, "but I don't think he'll mind."

"I don't know," Ino said.

"Sasuke is going to be there," Naruto said.

"I'll come!" Ino said quickly.

"Naruto! What's up with you inviting everyone?" Sasuke asked harshly.

"I'm only asking people who fulfill certain characteristics," Naruto said as he turned back around to look forward.

"What characteristics?" Sasuke asked.

"You'll find out tonight," Naruto said smugly. "Don't give me that look. I'm not trying to pair you up with anyone, though you probably need it."

"The same could be said for you, Naruto-san," Shino said.

"Ah, Shino you wound me," Naruto said.

"If you would like, I could actually wound you," Shino said.

"No you can't," Naruto smirked. "And for two good reasons." Shino's eyebrows rose. "One, I can defend myself much better than you can attack. And two, your offense sucks. That's why I'm your mentor, remember?"

"Wait, what do you mean Shino's offense sucks?" Ino asked from behind the boys. "He's one of the better shinobi in our class."

Naruto noticed that several people, including Sasuke and some not included in the conversation, were paying close attention. "What I mean is… you'll find out tonight!" Everyone around him except for Shino face faulted.

"Baka! What kind of answer is that?" Ino yelled at the boy.

"Yamanaka Ino!" Iruka snapped. "Interrupt my lecture one more time and I'll send you to the office!"

"Hai Iruka-sensei," Ino flushed with embarrassment before shooting a death glare at an inattentive Naruto.

"Now, who can tell me what I was talking about before Yamanaka-san so rudely interrupted?" Iruka asked. The only person to raise their hand was Naruto. "Very well, Uzumaki-san."

"You were talking about the Sannin," Naruto said.

"Very good. Why don't you tell me some of their accomplishments, seeing as how you were trained by one of them?" Iruka asked.

"I'll start with Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto said. "Jiraiya started out as the weakest of the team, under Sarutobi Hiruzen. When he saw Hiruzen use the summoning technique, he attempted to use it as well. However, without a contract, he had nothing to pull from the summoning realm, but the realm had a hold on him. He was pulled onto the sacred Mt Myoboku, the home of the toads. After getting much training from the toads, and travelling the world in search of the child of prophesy, he returned to Konoha for the Third Great Shinobi War. When the war was finished, Jiraiya took to writing books. His first novel, which I believe to be his greatest work, did not sell very well. After this he took to writing Icha Icha Paradise, the bestselling book series in the elemental nations for ten years running.

"Orochimaru eventually signed the snake contract. Where Jiraiya's toads were defensive, the snakes were offensive. After losing his wife and only son in the war, Orochimaru started wandering the lands with his assistant Yakushi Kabuto, one of the best medic-nin since Tsunade herself. He is the last descendant of the Shiro Shakudo clan, one of the few groups to ever have an unprecedented control of serpent kind.

"And Tsunade, the traitor. Also called the slug princess and the lady of blood. She is one of the extremely few people to achieve a form of immortality. Believe me, you don't want to hear how she does it. Once revered as the greatest healer in history, she now follows a strange religion that puts most Jashinists to shame. She is the descendant of Senju Hashirama and his late mistress, and plans to eliminate Konoha by any means for, in her words, 'All of the unfair judgment against my father's father and those of his line'.

"The three legendary ninja obtained the title after a fight with Sanshouo no Hanzo, holder of the Salamander contract. After he bested the three in a very close battle, he named them the Sannin, and commended them on their abilities. Had the battle continued for even ten seconds more, it is likely that the sannin would have won. Shortly after his victory, Hanzo joined forces with Konoha and brought a reprieve to Ame. Earlier this year he was named as the first Amekage."

"Some of that is news to my ears," Iruka said, "But I can validate most of it. What is the secret of Tsunade's immortality?"

"It is not appropriate to discuss the methods in a class of soon to be killers that may or may not be loyal to the village," Naruto said.

"Very well," Iruka said. "Now, if you take out your arithmetic books, and turn to page eight."

XxXxX

Naruto and Shino stumbled wearily to the Ichiraku Ramen stall. Both boys were covered in bruises and scrapes, Naruto more so than Shino. At each boys side was a wooden bokken. When they arrived, they saw their three guests standing outside the stall.

"Oh my god! What happened to you two?" Ayame asked, rushing over to Naruto. "Are you okay?"

"Talk later," Naruto mumbled, "eat ramen now."

Everyone except for Shino sweat dropped. Ayame helped Naruto into the shack while Ino did the same for Shino. After the boys had eaten, they had recovered enough to speak coherently, and by that virtue direct the other three to Naruto's house.

When they arrived, the other three were shocked to see not a house, but rather a mansion. The grounds were at least as large at the academy, and the building was huge. As they entered the building, Naruto instructed the three guests to sit while he and Shino went to gather supplies. They returned with three simple white robes, three white cloaks and three white silk cords with clear orbs.

"There are three empty rooms on the left hand side of the hall," Naruto said, handing Sasuke and Ayame each a set as Shino passed the last set to Ino. "You will each go into one of these rooms and change into these. You will only be wearing these at your induction, so no ninja gear, no other jewelry, and no watches. Hair bands are, however, acceptable. You will be pulled out of the rooms one at a time, so two of you will be waiting a while. The third inductee will be waiting roughly an hour."

"Why are we doing this?" Ino asked.

"You will find out during the induction test," Shino responded calmly.

"You better not peek!" Ino said harshly as she left to go to the first room.

"You can peek at me if you want to Naruto-kun," Ayame whispered seductively as she passed by Naruto.

Sasuke went and ended up in the third room. Naruto turned to Shino. "It looks like Ino will be first, and Sasuke will be last," Naruto said.

"So it would seem," Shino nodded.

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Reisu's voice called. "Did you bring guests?"

"Yes we did," Naruto said as the tall man entered the kitchen carrying brown bags full of groceries.

"I figured when I saw so many extra shoes here," Reisu said as he set the bags on the table. "Where are they?"

"They're changing right now," Shino said.

"Oh, so they're inductees, huh?" Reisu asked mischievously.

"Yes, and the girl is in the third room on the left," Naruto said.

"I see, well I'll be right back," Reisu said, as he tiptoed out of the room, leaving Naruto to put away groceries. Thirty seconds later resounding cry gave the boys a warm tingly sensation. "ACK! My non-virgin eyes! They burn!"

Reisu stumbled to the kitchen and fell onto the ground clutching his face in his hands. The three guests poked their heads out of their rooms to see what the commotion was.

"So," Shino asked, shocking everyone, "how was he?"

"Fuck you, both of you," Reisu said from his prone position.

"No thank you, I don't lean that way," Naruto said as he put away the last of the vegetables.

"I too prefer the women in that way," Shino said.

Naruto looked up to see Ayame as the only one with her head still in the hallway. He gave her a wink, and she blushed before ducking back into her room. The blonde boy strode to the first door. "Ino, you ready?"

"Yes," the girl said as she opened the door. Naruto frowned and reached behind her, pulling her hood up and over her face. "What was that for?"

"Part of the induction rules, you got to have you hood up when you enter the Order room," Naruto said loudly enough to make sure the other two heard it. "Now if you will please follow me." He turned around and opened the door right across from Ino's room. Before he entered he turned back to Ino. "You will sit on the red cushion, and you will sit Indian-style. I cannot be in the room while you do this. You have to focus your mind through the small orb around your neck and onto the large one in the center of the room."

Ino nodded and entered the room, closing the door behind her.

XxXxX

Thirty minutes later, a very tired looking Ino stumbled out of the room. The red lining to her white clothes, and the red orb about her neck, indicating her success. Naruto smiled at her and beckoned Shino to come closer.

"Ino, Shino will take you to choose your blacks. You will only wear your whites during a ritual. At all other times you will wear your blacks, except for when you sleep," Naruto explained.

"Okay," Ino said wearily as she leaned on Shino. The bug user assisted the girl upstairs.

Naruto approached the second room. "Ayame, it is your turn." The brunette opened the door and followed Naruto to the Order room. "I believe you heard me explain this to Ino?" Ayame nodded in response. "The test will not be the same for each person. Good luck."

"Thanks," Ayame said, turning to enter the room. Before she went in, she spun around and gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek before bolting into the room, her face bright red. Naruto raised his hand to his cheek, his face just as red as Ayame's.

"I thought you were of the indigo position," Shino's voice called from the bottom of the stairs. "Why is your face so red?"

"S-shut up!" Naruto stuttered.

"So he has emotions after all," Reisu said from the kitchen.

"I will make your lives a living hell if you don't shut up," Naruto said.

Reisu grinned but shut up. Shino was silent, but Naruto could swear that the boy was smirking beneath his hood and jacket.

XxXxX

Ayame opened the door and practically fell on Naruto. She had a smile on her face and her clothes were lined with red. Not only was the orb about her neck red, it was glowing slightly, causing several eyebrows to rise.

"Reisu, can you take care of Sasuke's. I'm going to take care of Ayame," Naruto said.

"Sure thing kid," Reisu said. "Just make sure to use protection."

"EH!" Naruto shouted uncharacteristically. "Uruasi Ero-sensei!"

"We're not old enough for that yet," Ayame protested weakly.

"Whatever you say kids," Reisu said condescendingly. He turned to the pair and his eyes widened. He quickly threw up a shield as all sorts of projectiles were launched at him, the primary target being that which makes him a man. "Alright I give!"

Naruto and Ayame gave up their assault and proceeded upstairs.

Reisu walked to the third door. "Okay kid, you heard the drill, right?" Sasuke nodded. "Good let's get going!" Reisu picked the raven haired boy up and tossed him onto his shoulder before walking down to the Order room, ignoring the boy's protests. He tossed the boy into the room and slammed the door shut. "Well, that's that," Reisu finished as brushed his hands together. "Shino, when he gets out of there you are in charge."

"Hai sensei," Shino said simply before settling down to wait.

XxXxX

Naruto half carried Ayame up the stairs and into a room that looked like it was much too large to fit inside the house. There were many racks of clothes going down to the far end, almost so far away that it looked like it kept going on forever.

The clothes themselves were all black save for the grey lining. There two different sections, a male and a female selection. The clothes, while mono-colored, came in many varieties of shapes and sizes. It was almost following the rule of if you can imagine we have it, so long as it's black.

Naruto turned to Ayame. "Before we begin, I have to ask you, why the kiss?"

Ayame blushed and turned away from Naruto. "As if you don't already know."

"Perhaps I do, but I want to hear it from you," the blonde said.

"I… I like you," Ayame said. "There I said it."

"I'm not sure if anything can happen between us," Naruto said.

"You mean the Kyuubi, don't you?" Ayame asked.

"In part yes," the blonde said. "There's no way the villagers would just sit back and allow the 'demon brat' to become involved with anyone."

"And if I said I don't give a damn?" the brunette asked.

"I don't know," Naruto said. "We're still young, perhaps too young."

"Perhaps you're right," Ayame said, before spinning around and giving him a grin filled with determination. "But I'll keep trying until you come to your senses. Or do you want the villager to see you as weak boy that will never achieve anything?" Naruto stared at the audacious girl with a stunned expression on his face. "Well, come on, help me pick something out."

XxXxX

Kiba was skulking down an alley way somewhere in the market district. He was filled with loathing at the very idea of Uzumaki Naruto. How dare he show him up? He, Kiba, was the Alpha of the class, not some no-clan loser that only just arrived in Konoha!

Kiba kicked a rock in frustration, sending it flying into the dark recesses of the pitch black darkness of the hole. He watched as the rock was caught in an armored hand. A figure stepped out of the darkness, the rock still clutched in its hand. With a seemingly small squeeze, the rock crumbled into dust.

The figure wore grey armor over his torso, his left forearm, his right shoulder, and both shins. His right arm was bandaged from his palm to his bicep. He wore black pants and had a black hooded cloak. His face was covered by a porcelain mask. The markings on the mask showed that it was not ANBU, as there were two marks that ran from each eye down to just above the chin, extending above the eyes to just below the upper edge. There was a third mark that ran from the top edged down to the tip of the nose. All of the marks were blood red. On the man's back were three swords. One was a massive Zanbatou, one was a rather large great sword, and one was a standard ninjato. On his side were two more swords, a standard katana and a double edge hand-and-a-half sword.

'_Who is this guy?' _Kiba wondered.

"Inuzuka Kiba?" the figure called out in a smooth voice.

Every instinct of the dog user said to run, to flee from that being, to hide in a hole until he was sure Armageddon had passed. However, the dog user did none of that. He simply nodded, unable to bring himself to speak.

"I am in need of your help dealing with the issue of one Uzumaki Naruto," the man said.

Almost instantly the feeling of fear left Kiba. When he had recovered himself, he gave the man a nod. "What do you need?"

XxXxX

The next day in class, Naruto and his companions entered the classroom just seconds before the bell. There was no sign of Iruka just yet, which made Naruto relieved.

"Oh no! It's spreading, like a disease!" Sakura's voice screeched, causing everyone to clasp their hands over their ears. At a nearly imperceptible nod from Naruto, the newest three companions lowered their hoods. "No, they got Ino!" Sakura continued until she saw the person behind Ino. "NO! SASUKE-KUN! WHY?"

"Sakura, shut up," Sasuke said indifferently, causing the girls eyes to bug out. Rather than become depressed that she was talked down to by Sasuke, she was hung up over the fact that he said something to her.

The group made their way to their seats, now located in the back row, as Iruka entered the classroom. "Okay, so now that I'm here, attendance." He gave a scan of the crowd. "Where's Kiba."

Naruto gave the room a cursory glance and noticed that the boy was in fact absent. Just as he shrugged the boy in question entered the room. Naruto tried to check his mind and memories, but what he found caused his eyes to widen.

"What is it Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"I can't read him. There's some kind of mental block in place," Naruto said.

"But there is no way Kiba could do something like that, could he?" Ino asked.

"No, the composition is wrong for a shinobi, much less one like Kiba," Naruto said. "Someone is shielding him. Someone who doesn't anyone to know who he is."

"Is there anyone that you can think of that is capable of something like that Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.

"No. I'll have to ask Reisu after class today," the blonde boy said. "You all should go home, especially you Shino, you haven't been home in a while. Your parents might get worried."

"Okay," Shino said, as the others nodded. "While I'm at it, I'll see about recruiting some of my clansmen."

"I'll do the same," Ino said.

"Alright everyone, but be careful," the blonde cautioned.

XxXxX

After class Naruto raced home as fast as he could. He found Reisu sleeping on the couch. He woke him up using a mental slap.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" the tall man asked.

"Something happened in class today," the blonde boy said. "One of the students came in late. Just for curiosity's sake, I tried to read him. There was a wall."

"Lots of people make mental walls," Reisu said. "Though a shinobi having a wall is kind of strange."

"That's not all," Naruto said. "The composition was wrong, especially for a shinobi. What's more is that I could feel that the energy making the wall was not his own, nor was he the one focusing on keeping it up."

Reisu sat up straight. "Did the energy feel thick and heavy or did it feel airy and light?"

"I couldn't tell," Naruto said. "The wall was solid enough that no excess energy escaped. I could only tell that it didn't belong to Kiba," Naruto said.

"This is not good," Reisu said.

"Why not?" the blonde asked.

"There are two opposing groups to our order," Reisu said. "One is a minor threat, easily defeated by one such as yourself, but the other can go toe to toe with one of our elders. If what you say is right, it may well be the second one."

"Does this group have a name?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Reisu said solemnly. "They are the Shadow Hunters."

AN: Another chapter done. I'm doing pretty well with this now. Oh, and please review, thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: N/A, this time.

Chapter 5

Naruto sat worried on bedroll. Reisu had explained to Naruto everything he knew about the Shadow Hunters. Due to a chemical imbalance somewhere in their brains or bodies, the Hunters themselves were immune to most of the Order's abilities. The only thing that really worked against them was the physical mind attack and the shield. They also all had an amulet with a black gem around their necks that for the most part they kept hidden in their clothes.

There were four subgroups in the Hunters. The first was the Hidden. The Hidden stayed in the shadows, keeping track of all of the known members of the Order. They generally wore normal clothes and acted like a normal person most of the time, but when espionage was needed they would hide deep in the shadows, any mind probes just sliding off into the stone to keep their presence concealed. They could also hide their memories so that the other members could not be found in event they were captured. In the rare event that they had to fight, they would use whatever skills they possessed to hold their attacker off until a member of the second group arrived.

The second group was known as Warriors. They were heavily armed and armored. All of their equipment was made with a strange chemical that not only made them harder and stronger, but also prevented an Order member from removing their gear. After combat, the Warrior and the Hidden would turn to the third group for assistance.

The third group was the Healer. They were responsible for tending to the wounds of the two more risky groups. Their healing capabilities were beyond what most medic-nin could accomplish in a week, but only took the Healers a little bit over an hour. However, they were one of the most dangerous groups to do combat against, as they could easily reverse the process and cause a person to rot from the inside out, or outside in if they were in a bad mood.

The fourth group was the most feared though. They were called Shadows, and had the capabilities of all three of the other groups. They generally were not sent out on any but the most important missions. What set Shadows apart from the other groups was the black cloak and mask. The mask was in indicator of rank as well. If the mask was all white, the Shadow was a grunt. If the mask had colored markings, then the Order member was dead. That was all there was to it.

The good news in all of this was that if the Shadow Hunters were in Konoha, then they wouldn't make any offensive moves for at least a year and a half. They would generally send one person in to get a few recruits trained, then after a year or so they would start the attacks. The would start small, weakening the Order slowly, but giving the higher ups enough warning to either prepare for combat, or flee.

The only real advantage the Order had over the Hunters was numbers. But that was in other lands, and it was possible that the Hunters were in place, recruiting, well before the Order arrived. If that was the case, then the Order was, for lack of a better term, fucked.

"Hey Naruto! Come help me with this!" Reisu called from downstairs.

"Coming!" the blonde boy said as he stood up and brushed of his clothes.

XxXxX

It was near midnight and a single jounin was on a random rooftop. He had spike silver hair that was slightly angled to his right. He wore his hitai-ate over his left eye and a face mask over the lower half of his face. The rest of his clothes were standard issue Konoha shinobi outfit with the officer's vest. He was staring intently at orange book in front of his face.

"Hatake Kakashi," a smooth male voice called from behind him.

"I was wondering when you would make your move," the jounin said without turning around.

"My group needs your assistance," the voice said. "There is a threat to this world, and it is growing even here in Konoha. Thus far the elemental nations had been removed from this cancer, but no more."

"The Hokage told me to find out why you were here," Kakashi said closing his book. "I didn't think that it would be you in particular."

"It has been a while since we've seen each other," the masked figure said sitting next to him.

"That it has," Kakashi said. "Everyone thinks you're dead. What do you need me to do?"

XxXxX

"You want what?" the Hokage asked.

"I want to be in charge of the team with Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi said.

"I thought you weren't going to take on a team this year," Hiruzen said.

"I changed my mind," Kakashi said. "People do that every now and then."

"I know," Hiruzen said. "Trust me, I know. Very well, Naruto will be place on your team no matter what. Is there anyone else in particular you would like on that team?"

"Inuzuka Kiba," Kakashi said.

"Why him?" the Hokage asked.

"We both work well with dogs," the jounin said. "And my summons may be able to teach him a thing or two."

"And who do you want for your third member?" Hiruzen asked.

"Hmm…" Kakashi said as he assumed a thoughtful position. "Surprise me." With his part done, Kakashi walked out of the door.

"Hmm, Kurenai wanted Hinata, and Asuma wanted the Ino-Shika-Chou trio…" Hiruzen muttered to himself. A smile lit his face.

XxXxX

"Spill it Kiba, where are we going?" an irate Sakura demanded.

The dog user turned to look at the three people following him. He had asked Hinata and Sakura to follow him somewhere, and they had followed. They traipsing around the alley ways had attracted the attention of a special jounin by the name of Mitarashi Anko.

Each of the girls had different styles. Hinata was on the conservative extreme, Anko was on the revealing extreme, and Sakura was in the middle. Ino used to be in the middle until she started hanging around that Naruto kid.

"I'm curious as to why a young man such as yourself would lead three young ladies to these dark alley ways," Anko said in a provocative tone.

"You have done your task well Inuzuka," a cloaked man emerged from the shadows. "Here is your token of acceptance into our humble family." The man handed Kiba a necklace. It was a silver amulet with a black gemstone in the center.

"K-Kiba-san, w-what's going o-on?" Hinata stuttered as five more figures emerged from the shadows. Only two of them had black cloaks on.

"Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura," the first cloaked figure, the one with the mask with three red markings, said, "we need your help. You have abilities that are vital to our organization."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Anko asked.

The cloaked and masked man looked up into Anko's face. "Strange, you have the potential to be useful to us, but it seems tainted by something." Anko stiffened and her hand instinctively went to the mark on her neck. "We can help rid you of this taint if you agree to assist us."

Anko looked at the man, hope in her eyes. "You can get rid of Hashirama's cursed seal?"

"It will be difficult, and painful, but we can do it," the man said. "But only if you join us. What is your decision?"

"I…" Anko trailed off. "I… I choose..."

XxXxX

In a city one hundred miles north-east of Konoha rested a large fortress. This fortress had a dark, gloomy, cast to it. The stones were dark grey, almost black. Around the rims were statues of demons and slugs. The massive gates were made of ebony wood, a tree rare to the elemental nations. The small grey buildings of the city seemed as if they were cowering from the castle, as if they were prey trapped in a cage with a deadly predator.

Inside, the fortress was similar. The dark stones and ebony wood for supports gave the castle an air of foreboding. The long carpets on the floor were a deep crimson with a spun gold design. Black and red Samurai armor adorning preserved corpses lined the walls, and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, along with torches on the walls, gave off the only light, and a dim light it was.

This castle was the current residence of one Senju Tsunade, the slug sannin. Tsunade was the descendant of Senju Hashirama. Both of them were great traitors to Konoha. Both of them had a form of immortality, and both of them were Senju. It was a family tradition, starting from Hashirama's mother's side.

Tsunade was not in a good mood. First, her servants woke her up too early. She threw them through the wall into the room that contained several vats of highly potent toxins. Then her cooks served her burned food. She tossed them into the kiln. And finally, she caught several of her guards goofing off instead of doing their duty. She had one by the throat, her fist cocked back.

"Tsunade-sama!" a brunette haired girl yelled angrily as she strode towards the buxom blonde.

"What is it Shizune?" Tsunade growled.

"If you keep killing all of the guards and servants, you won't have anyone to fill their jobs," Shizune chided. "Now drop the guard!"

"But they need to be punished," Tsunade argued.

"There are other ways to punish people," Shizune said as her hands glowed the blue green glow of chakra scalpels.

Tsunade smirked and dropped the man. "Do as you wish Shizune. I'm going to take a bath."

"The special one?" Shizune asked to the retreating form of her mistress.

"No, just a regular one for now. I still have another three weeks till I need that one," Tsunade said. "It's best if we wait for our men to return with the catch."

XxXxX

In a dark chamber in a cave hidden deep in Hi no Kuni sat nine men in a circle at a low table. Each of these men had on a storm grey cloak with a dead tree emblazoned on the back. Around the rest of the cloak were black leaves. Each of these cloaks had a hood and sleeves. Underneath the cloaks, these men wore the standard clothes of their countries. On the sleeve of the cloaks was worn the slashed hitai-ate of their former villages.

"In three years time," came a light toned male voice, "we shall start to claim the jinchuuriki."

"You never told us that!" said one of the forms, with a Kumo hitai-ate on his sleeve.

"You never asked fool!" the first man shouted, emitting a killing intent so tangible that it was almost visible to the shinobi's eyes. "Your fellow members had known for a while now."

"Forgive my impertinence, Senju-sama," the second man said.

"You are forgiven," the Senju said. "Now each of you will be assigned to a particular Bijuu, depending on your skill. We will strike in unison so as to give us enough time to move the bijuu from their containers into us. Then we shall unleash them upon the each of the villages, only recalling them when we have been satisfied."

"Who goes for which Bijuu?" a female voice asked.

"I wouldn't mind going for the eight tails," a second female voice purred seductively.

"This is who is going for which Bijuu," the leader said. He began to assign each member to one of the great beasts.

XxXxX

"Our spy in Kareki, or the Dead Tree, has informed us that they will move on the Bijuu in three years," said a man with long spiky black hair. He had lightly tanned skin and red samurai-like armor. On his back was a massive long handled fan, and at his side was a sword. This man was Uchiha Madara.

"Then we should arrive to protect the jinchuuriki as soon as possible," said a blue skinned man. He wore a deep blue ANBU style armor, signifying that he was a member of TIDE, the black ops of Kiri ANBU. He had spiky blue hair and what looked like gills on his cheeks. On his back was a massive bandaged form with a handle sticking out over his right shoulder.

"Our goal is to protect the jinchuuriki," Madara said, "but the only way we can do that, Kisame, is if they can hold off any other surprises that Hashirama's organization can throw at them, and us."

"So we have to train the jinchuuriki as well?" asked an orange haired man with brown eyes. He wore a pair of blue pants with a grey-white shirt. His equipment was the standard shinobi pouch on his hip and a kunai holster on his right thigh.

"Yes Yahiko," Madara said. "We are going to train the jinchuuriki until we believe that they are at an acceptable level."

"I see," Kisame said. "So who is to take care of which jinchuuriki?"

"I have only decided on one jinchuuriki so far," Madara admitted. "Nagato, you are the chosen protector of this jinchuuriki."

A red haired man snapped his head up to look at Madara. His hair fell to just below his chin, covering the left half of his face. In his right eye socket was a strange eye, a purple-silver color with a ripple pattern. He wore a plain white shirt and blue pants, almost the same as Yahiko, only he had two shinobi pouches.

When Madara told him who he was defending/training, he simply nodded and left to make preparations.

XxXxX

Hiruzen sat in his office, reading his book with a smug smile. After looking at the shinobi roster, he noticed a number of chuunin who had been avoiding missions. He sent his ANBU to collect three of the most trustworthy of them, meaning unbiased towards the resident jinchuuriki, and bring them to his office. He had made them an offer, that if they took care of the paperwork, he wouldn't punish them. They had quickly agreed.

Now the Hokage had some free time. He spent his time reading an orange book written by his student. Every so often he would let out a perverted giggle.

"Hey sensei!" a voice called out from the window. Hiruzen spun to see the student who had written the book he read. Next to him, also crouched on the window sill, sat one of his other students.

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru," Hiruzen greeted. "So nice of you to visit."

"It's been a while, hasn't it sensei?" Orochimaru asked, stepping down into the office. "I'm sorry I didn't return sooner. This pervert had to drag me across Hi no Kuni three different ways."

"I resent that," Jiraiya said in a mock offended tone to his oldest friend. "I am a super pervert, thank you."

Hiruzen chuckled a little bit and Orochimaru cracked a small smile. "What is your reason for a visit, Jiraiya?"

"Kareki," Jiraiya said seriously. "They plan to make a move on the bijuu in three years."

"Kareki is the name of Hashirama's group?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes," Jiraiya said. "The wear a dark grey cloak with black leaves. On the back is a dead tree. The group is composed of only S-class criminals."

"That is not good news," Hiruzen frowned.

"However, Madara's group, Hikari-Tate, will be moving to protect the jinchuuriki as soon as possible," Jiraiya said.

"Who are they sending to protect Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

"A man from Ame that I trained myself," Jiraiya smiled. "He's actually a relative of Naruto's. Uzumaki Nagato."

"When should we expect this young man?" Hiruzen asked.

"Now," Jiraiya said as a knock came at the door.

XxXxX

Naruto was sitting at a window seat in the classroom. Again he was bored. He was also a little worried. Now there were five minds he couldn't read in class. Kiba, Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Chouji all had that same mental block that prevented Naruto from reading them. He decided to check something to see if he could end the boredom.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes Naruto," the chuunin responded.

"Is it possible to take the genin exams a little early?" Naruto asked.

"It is," Iruka said. "But not many people take it until the end of the year because they don't feel ready."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're ready," Sasuke interjected.

"We'll see about that," Iruka muttered under his breath. Speaking up so everyone could hear him he asked, "Who here thinks that they're ready to take the genin exams?"

Iruka's jaw dropped as every single student raised their hand. Naruto looked around then stared at Iruka. "So when's the test?" Iruka chose that moment to faint. Everyone looked at the unconscious teacher, then the clock. There were only a handful of minutes until the bell, so the students started putting away their materials. Naruto went down to his teacher and set him in his chair, before going back to his own. Just as he reached his seat, the bell rang.

As the students filed out of the classroom Iruka woke up. "The test will be on Monday!" the brown haired teacher yelled.

Naruto waved as he passed by, before running to catch up with his group. Shino turned, the light reflecting off of his red lining. You could almost feel the waves of depression rolling off of him. Both Sasuke and Ayame had advanced to orange, but him and Ino were still at red. Naruto had taken Shino as his official apprentice, seeing as how Reisu was now a grandmaster.

"Okay Shino," Naruto said, "I just had an idea. Tell me, what are you using when you try to use the first ability?"

"Using?" Shino asked.

"That answers that question," Sasuke said.

"Shino, the proper way to use the mind push is through anger," Naruto said. "Look at Sasuke. He's quick to anger, and now he's at orange. You have to draw in your anger, and push the target."

Shino tried again, to no avail. "I just don't get it."

"Here, connect with either me or Sasuke," Naruto said. Shino nodded and both boys felt Shino connect mentally.

"Pay attention to the emotions, and the power flux," Naruto advised. "Sasuke, go slowly."

Sasuke nodded. In almost perfect unison the boys' anger flared briefly before becoming the driving force behind the will. Sasuke's was greater than Naruto's, but both were still powerful. The force was channeled outward. Naruto made his condense into a smaller area while Sasuke let his just blow out. Both of their targets blew back a good distance.

"Now, if Sasuke could focus his power like I did, I dare say he would be a much more feared adversary," Naruto said.

"I see," Shino said. He took a look around. "Where are Ayame-san and Ino-san?"

"It's free women's bath day," Naruto said. "They're not going to pass this opportunity up.

"I understand," Shino said.

"No," Sasuke shuddered, "I don't think you do."

"I was referring to the mind blast," Shino said.

"Oh, right," Sasuke said.

"I would like to try again," Shino said.

"On your mark," Naruto said with a rare smile.

'_Stupid people, bug haters, irrational people, Maito Gai and Rock Lee,' _Shino thought, going through a list of things that made him angry. As he went through the list, one thing in particular came into his mind. A memory

Flash Back

A five year old Shino sat one of the desks in his first year of the academy. He was preparing for class by checking all of his equipment, when one of the slightly bigger kids came by and knocked his books off of his desk.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the big kid said in a sarcastic tone.

"It is my fault," Shino said. "I should have left them so close to the edge."

"Let me help you," the boy said in a mocking tone that Shino didn't seem to get. The boy grabbed one of the books and slammed them on the table, making them skid back to fall off the other side.

"Please stop," Shino said.

"Make me," the larger boy said, hitting Shino in the arm.

"I don't want to hurt you," Shino said.

"Haha, you're just a wimp," the boy said, hitting Shino again.

It was at this point the bug user snapped. He summoned his bugs to attack the boy. The boy ran, crying as the insects attacked him.

"Aburame Shino!" one of the teachers yelled. "You should know better than to assault the other students.

"But I-" He started.

"But nothing, you attacked him with you insects. Now apologize," the teacher ordered.

"But he-" the bug user tried to defend himself.

"Apologize now," the teacher said dangerously.

"I'm sorry," Shino said through his grit teeth.

The entire time, the bully was smirking from behind the teacher.

Flash Back End

When this memory returned, Shino felt a massive surge of anger. He envisioned the bullies face on the target. Within moment, pieces of the paper target, and the many shards of the wooden block it was attached to, were flying at high speeds towards the back of the field the boys were using.

"Remind me not to piss him off," Sasuke whispered to Naruto, who nodded dumbly.

"Very good Shino," Reisu said as he emerged from the tree line behind the boys. "Next time, try not to explode the target or it's block. If you keep today's practice up though, you should advance in no time. Now, who wants to go eat?"

Naruto and Sasuke suddenly appeared behind Reisu. "We'll go with you."

"I'm hungry as well," Shino stated calmly. Seeing that Shino was calm again, both boys let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey kids," a voice familiar to Naruto said from the tree line.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto yelled before running to the man.

"I think Naruto is cracking," Sasuke said.

"No, Naruto cracked a long time ago," Reisu said. "This is him putting himself together again."

"I'm not even going to ask," Shino said, Sasuke nodding in agreement.

"I brought you a new teacher," Jiraiya told the boy.

"Really?" Naruto questioned doubtfully. "Who is it?"

"This is a distant relative of yours," Jiraiya said, introducing a man in a hooded tan cloak. "His name is Uzumaki Nagato. He will be teaching you your clan's seals."

"Hello, Naruto," Nagato said in a quiet voice, as he lowered his hood.

"Rinnegan," Naruto gasped looking at the man's eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. As evidenced by his still wearing of the Orange Jumpsuit of Idiocy.

AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was distracted by a story of sheer awesomeness. If you get a chance, check out Yet Again, With a Little Extra Help by Third Fang. Epic OC's, Epic story line, and Epic length. Yeah, it is Epic. On with my story!

Chapter 6

Sarutobi Hiruzen was many things. He was the Professor, master of all of Konoha's jutsu. He was the God of Shinobi, the single strongest shinobi in Konoha, during his prime. He was the Hokage, leader of Konoha no Sato. He was a parent, and a grandparent. But none of this mattered when compared with one thing. He was the poor fool stuck with the mountains of paperwork when every student in Iruka's class decided take the genin exams four and a half months ahead of schedule.

When he first saw the stack of paperwork, he assumed he would just push it off on the chuunin. But no, all of the forms concerning anything academy related had to be done by the Hokage, as set down by the Shodaime and enforced by the Nidaime. Hiruzen was currently wondering if there was anyone who could take the Hokage mantle at this time, if only so that the old man could retire to an obscure country with many single, beautiful women.

"ANBU," Hiruzen called, prompting a single team to manifest itself on the floor in a kneeling position as he began to work on the enormous pile. "I want you to bring me all of the clan heads. We need to have a little talk."

In thirty minutes, Hiruzen had mostly defeated the pile on his desk. He had completed all of the documents pertaining to the testing fields, the judges, and the students. It was remarkably easy; it was just that there were so many. As he put the last form into the extremely large cardboard box that was substituting for his approved outbox a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Hiruzen called as he picked up the next set of forms. He picked one up and read it. "Idiots, as if I would agree to a tax on noodles when I eat so many myself." He placed the document on a stack in the rejected outbox that was roughly four times as large as the approved inbox. And that stack was also the smallest in the box.

"You called for us," Inoichi frowned. He was in the middle of cultivating a rare herb that Anko had requested earlier that week.

"Ah, yes," Hiruzen said airily. "I have a question of the utmost importance for all of you. How is it that you have so much free time when you just as much paperwork as I do?"

"I use clones," Inoichi said.

"Me too," Chouza answered.

"Same here," Hiashi answered.

"I too," Shibi said.

"I do as well," Shikaku said.

"Exactly the same," Tsume nodded.

"I see," Hiruzen said, his eye twitching. "You are dismissed." He waited before all of the clan heads had left the room before and shut the door before making his next action. He took a deep breath, not noticing that Shibi had returned to discuss something, thus interrupting his privacy seals. "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU-"

XxXxX

All across Konoha, and a good ways beyond, Hiruzen's voice was heard. Many of the adults stared in the direction of the Hokage Tower in shock, while many children cocked their heads in confusion as their parents had either told them it was a bad word or they had never heard it before. Hiruzen would be getting many complaints from worried parents in the next few days.

In a local bar, Jiraiya and Orochimaru looked at each other. "Sounds like sensei finally found out the secret to paperwork," the paler of the two said.

"I was right that he was going to be vocal about it," Jiraiya said with a smile as he turned to Kakashi, who was sitting on his other side. "Pay up."

"Fine," Kakashi grumbled as he pulled out a notepad and handed it to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya grabbed the pad as if it were gold. "Oh yes, with this information, my next Icha Icha book will be the greatest one ever!"

XxXxX

"That was disturbing," Naruto said as he sat down in the training field covered in sweat, "and potentially life threatening."

"What?" Sasuke gasped from his prone position. The Uchiha was covered in many bruises and his clothes had scorch marks. He was also suffering from an extreme headache.

"Hokage-sama just found out the secret to paperwork," a stoic Shino said. Unlike the other two, Shino's appearance was not off in any way.

The entire group was at Naruto and Reisu's private training ground. They had been practicing on combining their psychic abilities with their shinobi skills. In Naruto, Ayame, and Shino's case they were also incorporating a mixed samurai and ninja style kenjutsu. So far they were successful.

Shino and Ino had finally managed to get to orange as Ayame had obtained yellow. Sasuke couldn't get a hang of the healing like Ayame did. It was almost like when Shino was having trouble with the mind blast, only on the opposite end of the spectrum.

"Okay," Sasuke said. "I just wish that I would hurry up and a get a hang of this healing thing."

"Sasuke, it took me almost a year to get a hang of it," Naruto said. "It is one of, if not the most difficult skill to learn. Ayame only got it so quick because she's so nice, and has an instinctive sense of compassion. She can heal both herself and others so quickly because of it."

"Aww, you're so sweet Naruto-kun," Ayame said. "It sounds like your trying to get on my good side for some reason."

"The best healers are also the scariest of enemies. The can hurt you in ways that a swordsman never could," Naruto said sagely.

"How so?" Ino asked.

"A skilled healer could move all the fluids away from a certain place in your body. A good one could make anyone impotent, reduce a female's breast size, and give someone a migraine from hell," Reisu said as he wandered over to the kids with Nagato following closely.

"What he said," Naruto said with a yawn.

"Now Naruto," Reisu chided, "if you're not going to state your own opinion, you shouldn't open your mouth. You'll contribute to noise pollution."

"No, that is impossible now that both Haruno Sekkai and Oji-san have made 'public announcements'," Naruto argued.

"True," Reisu nodded in agreement. "And I will have to get back at you and Shino for that."

"Wait, that prank last week was you two?" Ino asked.

Naruto and Shino looked at each other and then back at Ino. "Yes, why do ask?"

"You got paint in my hair," Ino said dangerously, her shoulders shaking.

"Sorry?" Naruto apologized as he stood up with Shino.

"Sorry?" Ino asked incredulously. "Sorry! I'm going to flay you alive, and hang your skins above my family's shop!"

"Sorry Shino, you're on your own," Naruto said as a homicidal Ino flew through him, causing him to fade from existence.

"A psi-clone?" Nagato asked in surprise. "I didn't think he was skilled enough for that."

"Obviously he is better than we gave him credit for," Reisu said. The older pair started walking off.

"Where are you two going?" Sasuke asked from his still prone position.

"We're going to go find Naruto," Reisu said.

"He has extra training to do," Nagato said coldly.

"Like what?" Ayame asked.

Reisu levitated a stone directly in front of Nagato. Nagato raised a hand to the rock and yelled out "Shinra Tensei!" The rock flew at speeds that the psi users couldn't match with their mind blasts. The rock hit a tree, creating a hole that went clear through to the other side, repeated with the next five trees behind it.

"Naruto can do that?" Ino asked as the other's jaws dropped.

"No," Nagato said. "He has to dodge that?"

"How many?" Ayame asked in worry.

"This many," Reisu said happily as over a thousand of rocks of similar size rose from the ground.

"Fuck that," Naruto's voice yelled from a tree.

"Found you," Reisu said sadistically as all of the rocks moved between Nagato and the tree.

"Shinra Tensei!" Nagato yelled, the rocks rocketing towards their target.

What fell out of the tree was not a live Naruto, nor was it a dead body of Naruto. It was not a log either. What fell out of the tree was a recliner. A recliner very familiar to the group.

"That's my recliner!" Reisu roared in frustration. "You are so dead!"

"Only if you catch me," Naruto's disembodied voice taunted.

"He is doing that on purpose, isn't he?" Ayame whispered to Shino, who nodded stoically. "Reisu-sensei is going to kill him." Shino only nodded in agreement.

XxXxX

Hiruzen sighed in contentment. He had twelve clones working at four long desks in the room below. All the paperwork was directed to go to that room now. It was great to be Hokage, or so he told himself. Especially when clan heads that had been holding out on you now had to do at least six D rank missions a day without clones for the next two weeks.

'_It's time to sit back and enjoy a nice story,' _Hiruzen thought as he reached for a drawer. When he opened the drawer, he noticed his book wasn't there. He frowned and went through all of the drawers of his desk, only to show up with no book. He sat up in his chair and an envelope dropped onto his desk.

He opened the small parcel to reveal a note. He frowned as he read it.

_Old man,_

_I am in trouble, again. I need you to convince Reisu sensei not to kill me. I know you want to kill me yourself for last week's event, but I have leverage. Sealed at the bottom of this paper is all the incentive you need._

_-Sincerely, Naruto_

Hiruzen pushed a little bit of chakra into the seal to release a picture. The picture was his Platinum edition, author signed, uncensored version of the first Icha Icha book ever released, only ten copies ever made. The book was tied to a suspended chair with the ANBU chakra restraining rope. There was another rope tied to the chair that went up to a pulley that led to Naruto's hands. Below the chair was a fiery pit.

Hiruzen's eyes widened. "ANBU!" the earlier team appeared. "Spread the word to all other teams that Murasaki Reisu is to be brought to my office immediately!"

"Yes sir!" the team acknowledged, before vanishing via shunshin. Within moments another team arrived with the man in question.

"Murasaki Reisu, it has come to my attention that you are trying to kill your apprentice," the Hokage said.

"The little bastard deserves it," Reisu said. "He caused my recliner to be demolished. Do you know how expensive a black demon leather recliner is?"

"Be that as it may, I need you to not kill him," Hiruzen said.

"He's blackmailing you, isn't he?" Reisu asked.

"As I said, stop trying to kill him," Hiruzen said sternly. "If this persists, I will schedule separate, mandatory, and ANBU enforced appointments with Mitarashi Anko, Morino Ibiki, and Yamanaka Inoichi."

"I'll be good," Reisu gulped.

"Very well," Hiruzen said. "You're free to go."

"Good bye Hokage-sama," Reisu said with a bow before he left the office.

"Thank you Oji-san!" Naruto said as he dropped from the ceiling with a sigh of relief. "You saved my life."

"I would like to have my book back," Hiruzen said dangerously.

"I hid it in your paperwork," Naruto said. "In the section about us graduating… Where is all that paperwork?"

"This is the best birthday present ever! Thank you Hokage-sama!" a chuunin's voice came from two rooms over.

Naruto felt the old man's killing intent. "Now now, there's no need to kill me. You can just get another one, right?"

"There were only ten copies of that book ever produced," Hiruzen growled. "Three were on a ship that sank off the coast of Nami no Kuni, two are in hostile countries, one is on another continent, two were burned by offended wives, and the last one is missing. It is irreplaceable. You will get what is coming to you boy." Hiruzen rolled up his sleeves and approached Naruto in a threatening manner.

"Uhh, um," the boy started sweating as he backpedaled, ending up against a wall. "Um… HENGE!"

There was a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke disappeared, it revealed a tall pale girl with long blonde pigtails. There were three marks on each cheek and she had bright blue eyes. She was also completely naked.

Hiruzen's eyes bulged out as he saw Naruto's transformation and caused him to fly back with blood rocketing from his nostrils. He hit his head on the wall at the back of his office, only a foot from the window.

"Huh, what do you know?" Naruto said as he moved his hands to grab the transformations breasts. "It's not an illusion."

"Hokage-sama!" Hiruzen's secretary burst into the room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the blonde as a female. "W-who are you?"

"I got to go!" Naruto yelled, jumping out of the window. When he felt he was a safe distance away, he tried to release the jutsu, only to find out it didn't work. He started to panic. It only lasted for a minute, but during that time he was running in circles and screaming his head off… or would it be her head? He/she paused for a moment to think about how he/she got into this mess. He brought his hands into the rat sign. "Henge!"

The smoke formed and vanished to reveal the usual dark clothed Naruto. To be safe he tried to release the jutsu again only for it to fail to release, much to his relief. Looking around, the blonde saw that no one was near him. He sighed in relief and vanished from sight, using a shunshin of his own to arrive at his house, in his room.

"And where have you been?" Reisu asked from a dark corner of the room.

"I was hiding?" the blonde tried.

"Nice try," Reisu said. "Want to guess again?"

"Um… HENGE!" the blonde yelled, turning into the female version of himself. Reisu saw the form and flew back, out of the single window in Naruto's room. Naruto sighed in relief. He opened the door to the hallway and ran into Nagato. The red head looked at Naruto for a good minute before he rocketed back with a bloody nose of his own. Naruto sweat dropped. "Are all of my teachers perverts?"

XxXxX

In the bar Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Kakashi sneezed.

Outside the house Reisu sneezed.

In an apartment across from the academy Iruka sneezed.

In the Hokage Tower Hiruzen, and his twelve clones, sneezed.

In the orb three voices sneezed.

In a dark cave somewhere in Hi no Kuni Madara sneezed.

XxXxX

In the hallway of Naruto's house Nagato sneezed. Naruto's eye twitched. "You don't sneeze if the person talking about you is right in front of you!"

"My mistake," a dazed Nagato said.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered. "Henge!"

"That is one devastating technique you have," Nagato said. "You should name it."

"Okay then," Naruto said. He bowed his head in thought. "Orioke no Jutsu!"

"A very apt name," the red head said.

"I noticed something strange earlier though," Naruto said.

"And what would that be?" Nagato asked.

"The transformation, it was actually real. I mean, real-real, not chakra shell real," the blonde said.

"That is strange," Nagato said. "Useful, but strange. I suggest that you don't transform into anything inanimate. You might not be able to change back. You know, lack of a brain to think with and all that."

"Right," Naruto hastily agreed.

"Anyway, follow me," the red head said. "I got permission to teach you this one clone technique. I believe it's perfect for someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Naruto asked, following his relative to the training field.

"You have extremely large reserves," Nagato said. "You won't be able to perform a regular bunshin, so you need a stronger one. And the one I'm going to teach you will be perfect for you. If I'm right, you may be able to make at least twenty."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yes really," Nagato said. "It's called Kage Bunshin, the shadow clone. Anything it learns, you learn. You will have to do all of the physical training yourself, but you can use the clone for chakra control, increasing your reserves, learning jutsu, and brushing up on your academics."

"That is so cool!" Naruto exclaimed in a tone that he didn't normally use.

"Now, there are twenty seven hand seals," Nagato said. "You can also use only one. The downside to using only one is that they will be much weaker, and you will waste a lot of chakra. The upside is the speed you can produce them. And vice versa. Now, the first seal is the rabbit seal."

XxXxX

Monday morning found the graduating class in a different room than the one they were used to. There were no windows in the classroom, apart from the glass ceiling. Rather than the usual desk system, there open top booths. Each booth had special seals to prevent the students from conversing with each other, or looking at the other student's papers. The seals also prevented a student from falling asleep until their test was done, as it would shock them if they tried to lay their head down.

"Here is how this is going to work," Iruka said as he passed out tests. "You will take a written exam in this room. We will call names out while you are doing so. When you hear your name called, proceed to the back of the room. We will test you on the practical parts of your shinobi training. Your written test will last until the last person is called. When the last person returns, you will stop writing and you will line up at the back of the room. Do you understand?"

"Hai sensei," the students responded.

"Very well," Iruka said. "Begin!"

As soon as the chuunin gave the word, the students turned their papers over and began writing furiously.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: My loyal fans, if there are any left, I am back for the moment. I have been extremely busy for the past several months. That, and my muse taking a vacation to Hawaii while I had to work, kept me from updating my stories. I don't know how long it will be before I can update again, but I decided to give you an update that you were all dying for.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's subsidiary components, such as characters, places, or weapons.

The dark clothed blonde stared at the sheet of paper in front of him. Many of the other students were struggling with the test which included history, shinobi tactics, and jutsu theory. Naruto was struggling too, but for an entirely different reason. He was struggling not to laugh.

To him, this test was so ridiculously easy it was almost an insult. The only reason he did not laugh was that it would break his cool kid character. That would have been a breach in his protocol, and force him to mind wipe anyone that heard it. Then he would wipe the rest of the village just to be sure, before removing the incident from his own memory.

The jinchuuriki quickly jotted down the correct answers, going so far as to give detailed answers that very few shinobi were aware of. Satisfied that his test was done, he placed his pencil down and leaned back in his seat.

After some time, he finally heard his name called out. Naturally his was the very last one. He stood up slowly before pushing his chair underneath the desk and sauntered to the back of the room.

"Naruto," Iruka began, "for the practical application of the test, you will be be given three separate tasks, one from each of the proctors."

"Well, let's hurry this up," the blonde said, running a hand through his hair. "I don't have all day."

The three adults looked at each other then nodded and the first man stepped forward. He was tall with well defined muscles. He wore the standard jounin outfit and had short brown hair. "I will grade you in the first task. Your first task is taijutsu."

XxXxX

"Do you think they'll pass?" a female jounin asked. She had long dark hair that curled up at the ends and bright red eyes. She wore a dress with red sleeves and a white body that appeared, at first glance, to be made of bandages. In reality the segments of cloth were slightly hardened to provide protection from small projectiles and glancing blows.

"I have all confidence in most, if not all, of the youngsters to pass," Hiruzen smirked from his seat. He had a bet against one of his chuunin, the one that had the special edition of Icha Icha Paradise. In fact the bet was for that exact book in Hiruzen's case, and enough Ryo for an S-rank mission in the chuunin's.

"Even the new guy pops?" a gruff man with a short pointy beard asked the oldest man in the room.

"Especially Naruto," the wizened Hokage nodded.

"What are the stakes to make you so confident in the blonde boy?" Kakashi asked.

"Platinum edition of the holy book," Hiruzen said, making Kurenai confused while Kakashi and Asuma nodded in understanding. Every other jounin in the room just sweat dropped.

XxXxX

"You pass the first task," the examiner said between breaths. Naruto was likewise bent over trying to catch his breath.

'_I_ _swear by all the kami, and by the power of the log that I won't skip out on taijutsu practice again_' the blonde thought, a feeling of reverence passing through everyone in the vicinity at the mere thought of the log.

"I will oversee the second task. This one will be basic genjutsu," the next examiner said. He wore glasses that seemed to have a glare over the entire lens. He also wore the standard officer's outfit, but his hair was longer and an odd green color. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Yeah, sure," the blonde said as he finally recovered.

"I'm going to place you in genjutsu of increasing difficulty until you can no longer break free," the man said. "Get ready."

Naruto easily dispelled the first few genjutsu. Getting bored, he dispelled the one surrounding the proctor testing him right now, revealing the fact that the lazy man didn't bother to dress himself in more than his red and white striped boxers.

"PASS!" the jounin yelled as he leaped out of the immediate area, likely to find some clothes or redo his illusion.

Everyone still in the room rolled their eyes as the last proctor approached the boy. He had a stern face and spiky black hair. Unlike the others, he wore a gray outfit with a black trench coat over the top of it, which singled him out as a T&I specialist, all of whom were tokubetsu jounin and up.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I am jounin Shirano Kouta, leader of section 13 of the T&I division. I will be the one to grade you on your ninjutsu," the officer said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Kouta-senpai," Naruto bowed low. However, this was only the conversation taking place on the outside.

~_So, you're the one my masters fear?_~ Kouta thought.

~_Shadow Hunter?!_~ Naruto exclaimed in alarm.

~_Hardly. Do not worry, we mean you no harm. You haven't done anything to warrant an attack. Yet._~

Naruto's eyes narrowed very slightly. ~_What do you mean by yet?_~

Kouta smiled lightly. ~_You alone have the capacity to do something that all the other members of the three organizations together would never be able to do. You alone have the ability to save, destroy, or __rule the world. Or, you will soon. Our magic, whilst much more powerful than your psionics, is much less predictable and stable.~ _"To pass my test, you must merely perform a successful kawarimi before I hit you with this kunai."

The blonde flashed through the necessary seals for the kawarimi. At the last second he felt the swap being performed.

XxXxX

"NOOOOOOOOO!" came an anguished cry from the back of the room. "Not the sushi! Why do the kami hate me so?!"

Everyone in the small observation room turned to stare at the sight of Reisu wailing in self woe on the ground while an unrepentant Naruto sat cross legged on the table, in the exact same spot that there used to be an entire platter of sushi, Murasaki's favorite food.

"It's not the kami that hate you shishou," Naruto said sagely, "it's the Log."

"ALL HAIL THE LOG!" all the shinobi in the room, the wizened Hokage included, praised.

Kouta walked into the observation room with the rest of the proctors and Iruka. "Uzumaki Naruto has passed all the requirements to be placed on a genin team."

Hiruzen let out an uncharacteristic whoop before using his own shunshin to reclaim his special edition porn. Some money exchanged hands as bets were won or lost.

"I give up!" Reisu exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as he stalked off to head home. "I will not be able to understand a shinobi ever!"

All the shinobi in the room grumbled before passing the now beaming Naruto pretty much all the money on their persons.

XxXxX

"NARUTO!" an angry form flew at the blonde as he walked into door of his home.

The blonde sighed and ducked as his master flew over him to roll on the ground outside. Reisu, quickly got to his feet and sprang at Naruto again, only to crash face first into the jinchuuriki's hastily erected psi-shield.

"Now is not the time for your hysterics shishou," Naruto chided. "I met someone today who doesn't work for our order or the Shadow Hunters."

Murasaki stiffened. "Tell me everything."


End file.
